Breeding colony of California Common Murres

A breeding colony of California Common Murres (Uria aalge californica) on Prince Island of San Miguel Island off southern California, photographed July 12, 2011. Ecologists Josh Adams and Jonathan Felis of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center shot this and other high-resolution digital telephotos from a research vessel and used the photographs to identify nesting and feeding behavior. The photographs provide evidence of the first California Common Murre breeding colony in the Channel Islands in 100 years. Red box shows an area enlarged in another photo.