The dovekie, also known as the little auk, is a small seabird in the auk family. Measuring only about 16-18 cm in length and weighing around 180 grams, the dovekie is one of the smallest members of the auk family. Despite its small size, the dovekie is a powerful flier and spends most of its life offshore over deep, cold Arctic waters. However, the dovekie does come to land to breed and nest. This raises an interesting question – can the dovekie take off from land, or does it need water to get airborne?
Dovekie Natural History
To understand whether dovekies can take off from land, it helps to look at some key aspects of their natural history and biology:
- Breeding habitat – Dovekies nest in huge colonies on remote, rocky cliffs and islands in the high Arctic. Some major breeding sites include northern Greenland, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, and Severnaya Zemlya.
- Nesting – They nest in rock crevices and cavities, often on steep cliff faces very close to the waterline. Their nests are lined with grass and feathers.
- Colony size – Dovekie colonies can number into the millions of breeding pairs. Some colonies have over 10 million birds.
- Seasonality – Dovekies are highly migratory. They spend the boreal winter far offshore over deep waters, migrating north in spring to breed. Colonies form in May and eggs are laid in early June.
- Flight style – In flight, dovekies beat their wings rapidly in a straight-line. They use their wings for deep rowing motions under water as well.
- Take-off style – Dovekies usually take off with a running start across the water, beating their wings vigorously to become airborne.
These facts provide some clues about whether dovekies can take flight from land. The location of their breeding colonies on remote, cliff-bound islands and their habit of nesting very close to the sea suggests that dovekies are highly adapted to taking off from water rather than level ground. Their running take-off style is also better suited for gaining speed across a water surface before lifting off.
Observations of Dovekies Taking Off
Observing dovekies in their breeding colonies also provides direct evidence about their ability to take flight from land:
- Dovekies in colonies are often seen taking off from the water just below their nest sites, flying out to sea to forage.
- When arriving back at the colony, dovekies typically land on the water again near the cliffs before walking or hopping back to their nests.
- Some nesting areas have level surfaces above the water, but dovekies avoid these areas for take-off and seem to greatly prefer taking off from the sea.
- If flushed from the colony by predators or researchers, dovekies will preferentially fly downhill towards the water to take off rather than uphill over land.
- If forced to take off inland, dovekies struggle to become airborne and require a long take-off run across the rocks to gain enough speed.
Clearly from these observations, dovekies are adapted for taking off from the water and seem to avoid taking off from level ground when possible. Their behavior suggests that taking off from land requires much more effort and difficulty.
Advantages of Water Take-Off
There are several major advantages for dovekies taking off from water rather than land:
- A water surface provides a smooth, unobstructed running surface for acceleration.
- Their wings provide lift and thrust during the take-off run across the water.
- Water reduces friction during the acceleration phase compared to rough rocks.
- Taking off headed downhill towards water gives an extra acceleration boost from gravity.
- Water take-off avoids the need to climb steeply immediately after take-off.
- The open water provides an unobstructed flight path once airborne.
In contrast, taking off from rocky cliffs and steep island terrain presents many challenges and disadvantages for gaining speed and lifting off from the higher altitude launch point.
Morphological Adaptations
In addition to behavior, the dovekie’s morphology is adapted for water take-off:
- Their wings are shaped for providing lift when beating against water.
- Their feet are placed far back on their body to provide power and thrust in water.
- Legs positioned far back aid in pushing off from the water surface.
- Compact, rounded body profile reduces drag in water during take-off.
These adaptations for water take-off and swimming underwater make taking flight from land more challenging for the dovekie.
Energetic Costs
Taking off from land also comes at an increased energetic cost for dovekies:
- More flapping is needed to become airborne from land, increasing effort.
- The bird must work against gravity to gain altitude taking off uphill.
- Rough rocks require extra effort to run and push off compared to smooth water.
- Immediate steep climb is energetically expensive.
- Overall, water take-off appears to be a much less costly way for dovekies to get airborne.
Minimizing energetic costs is critically important for small seabirds like dovekies that have high metabolic rates associated with flight and swimming.
Predator Avoidance
Take-off behavior also relates to predator avoidance for dovekies:
- Take-off over water allows immediate escape from terrestrial predators like foxes and polar bears.
- The longer take-off run needed from land likely increases predation risk from land predators.
- Cliffs and rough terrain also inhibit terrestrial predators from chasing or capturing birds.
- A quick water take-off gets dovekies away from the colony and potential predators faster.
Overall, the ability to swiftly take-off from water adjacent to nesting cliffs helps dovekies reduce predation risk, especially from Arctic foxes, a major nest predator.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while dovekies are capable of becoming airborne from level or sloped land surfaces, they are morphologically and behaviorally adapted for water take-off. Water take-off provides major advantages in terms of energy costs, acceleration, lack of obstacles, predator avoidance, and climb angle. Dovekies preferentially take-off from the sea adjacent to their cliff and island breeding colonies, only landing on shore briefly to switch between flying and swimming. Though they can take off from land if needed, the difficulty and rarity of such events demonstrates that dovekies are seabirds highly specialized for take-off from the water, not from land.
References
Here are some references used as sources for this article:
- Gaston, A. J., & Jones, I. L. (1998). The auks. Oxford University Press.
- Nettleship, D., & Birkhead, T. R. (1985). The Atlantic Alcidae: the evolution, distribution, and biology of the auks inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent water areas. Academic Press.
- Hipfner, J. M., Charette, M. R., & Blackburn, G. S. (2007). Subcolony variation in breeding success in the thy-billed murre Uria lomvia. Arctic, 224-233.
- Jones, I. L., Hunter, F. M., & Robertson, G. J. (2002). Annual adult survival of Least Auklets (Aves, Alcidae) varies with large-scale climatic conditions of the North Pacific Ocean. Oecologia, 133(1), 38-44.
- Karnovsky, N. J., & Hunt Jr, G. L. (2002). Estimation of carbon flux to dovekies (Alle alle) in the North Water. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 49(22-23), 5117-5130.
