Mitlenatch Island is home to thousands of nesting birds. Here are some of the most common species.

Glaucous-winged Gulls

About 1,000 pairs of Glaucous-winged Gulls nest on Mitlenatch, the most common nesting birds on the island. This large gull with grey wing tips is the common gull of Georgia Strait. Adults start arriving as early as February to stake out breeding territories (a small circle in the grassy rock outcroppings), which are fiercely defended until their young fledge.

Eggs, which are buff to pale olive and spotted or blotched with darker brown, begin to appear about late May, with the first eggs hatching in late June (the incubation period is about 27 days). Almost as soon as the young hatch they can move around. Instinctively they peck at the red spot on their parent’s bill. This stimulates the parent to regurgitate warm partly digested food, which the chick devours.

Nesting Gulls are best viewed from the Observation Blind to minimize disturbance. When approaching the Observation Blind keep your party together and move slowly. The will reduce the gull’s anxiety and allow you to observe their behaviour and “family life” more easily.

By the end of August most young gulls have left the island. Banding studies indicate that most of the grey-brown juveniles winter within 100 km (60 miles) of Mitlenatch.

Pelagic Cormorants

There are about 250 Pelagic Cormorant pairs nesting on Mitlenatch. These birds build nests of seaweed and grass, cemented together with guano, on narrow ledges on the steep cliff faces. The 4 to 6 eggs are light bluish white. Pelagic Cormorants feed on small fish.

Nesting cormorants are very easily disturbed. Nesting cormorants are best viewed quietly and at a minimum distance of 50m from a slow moving boat.

Double-crested Cormorants

There are about 31 Double-crested Cormorant pairs on Mitlenatch. They build stick nests on flatter ground on the crest of steep cliffs.

Northwestern Crow

The Northwestern Crow is one of the more conspicuous birds on Mitlenatch Island. Their bulky platform nests, built in the pine forest, thickets and sometimes on the ground, hold 3 or 4 bluish green, mottled eggs. Crows are omnivorous, relishing crabs, clams, berries, seabird eggs, carrion and regurgitated gull food.

Common Raven

A pair of Common Ravens have been nesting in the pines above Northwest Bay. The abundance of food on Mitlenatch Island means that it is not uncommon for up to five chicks to fledge in early summer.

Pigeon Guillemots

Pigeon Guillemots nest under large boulders and driftwood and in rock crevices near the water. Nests are lined with a few chips of rock, shell or wood. The 2 eggs are very pale grey with small dark blotches. Guillemots feed on small fish. A few minutes of watching guillemots lounging on the rocks (each with a freshly caught fish in their beaks) is a great way to observe the diversity of local small fish.

Black Oystercatchers

Black Oystercatchers nest on the beach above high tide line. Oystercatcher nests are a “scrape,” a depression in the ground, lined with small pebbles and shell fragments. The 2 to 3 eggs are light grey with small dark blotches. If an oystercatcher is agitated, exhibiting alarm behaviour (calling and pacing) or even walking away, you may be near a nest and should immediately leave. When an oystercatcher leaves its nest, crows, ravens, and other predators will rush in to steal eggs or eat chicks. Oystercatchers feed on shellfish, especially limpets.