Alcids breed in island colonies along Arctic and north temperate seacoasts, with the exception of a few murrelets that breed inland on mountains. Even these must remain within flying distance of the sea. The breeding behaviour of the pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba) is fairly typical of the family. This species breeds on islands and coasts of the North Pacific, south to central California. It nests between rocks or in holes in cliffs, uses burrows of other birds, or digs its own tunnels with its bill and feet. Occasionally it nests on an open ledge or in tall grass. Unlike some other alcids, guillemots walk quite well on land.

Birds land at their breeding colonies in British Columbia in early April, at which time they stay only briefly in the early mornings. In general, birds return to the same mate and nest burrow for many years. Full attendance is achieved by the end of June, but even then many birds leave the colony in the afternoon to go to their feeding grounds—shoals that may be several miles distant. Only incubating and brooding birds spend the night at the colony. They drive other birds away from their burrows before egg-laying but are more tolerant later in the season when feeding young. The pair also defends a perch site away from the nest burrow, usually a rock close to the water. On this site, which is used in successive years by the same pair, copulation occurs and the nonincubating bird may rest and preen. About 30 percent of the birds at the colony consists of nonbreeding individuals—yearlings or two-year-olds that were hatched at the colony but are unpaired.

During the pre-egg stage, which lasts about 30 to 60 days, the mated pairs spend much time at the perch sites, but they occasionally visit the nest site or cliff top and join in communal water displays. Their display repertoire includes several alarm reactions—the flight intention call, bill dipping (in water), and a scream delivered with the neck straight up and the bill agape. Among the aggressive and sexual displays are a silent lunge on water or land with bill somewhat open, chases that may be in flight or underwater, and a “hunch-whistle” on shore or water, with tail cocked, the head drawn back, the bill agape, accompanied by piping. A display that may represent appeasement is the “twitter-waggle” in which the bird twitters with the tail raised, wings loose, and head and neck outstretched and wagging sideways. The communal water dances, which occur in the pre-egg stage, involve many birds. Pairs are not always together or both present. The birds move rapidly under water or at the surface propelled both by wings and feet. This behaviour is interspersed with “hunch-whistles” and “twitter-waggles.”

Pair formation is indicated by mutual “billing,” in which the birds waggle their heads but rarely touch bills, while uttering a twittering trilled song with the bill open, revealing the bright red mouth lining. Copulation is initiated by billing, followed by the male’s waddling in a circle, first in one direction and then in the other. The female crouches and the male mounts, resting on his tarsi and fluttering his wings to keep balance; the female may gape, scream, or utter an alarm call. She then rises, throwing off the male, and the birds bill or preen.

The pair cleans debris out of the nest cavity and piles up pebbles without making a well-defined nest. A normal clutch is two eggs (rarely one), and the birds’ brood patches will not accommodate more than two eggs. The second egg follows the first by three days. Incubation lasts for about 32 days, including a two-day interval between cracking and hatching. Steady incubation during the day begins one day after the clutch is complete, but incubation at night may not begin for one or two days more, at which time a single bird begins to sit all night until the early morning exchange. The incubating bird may leave the burrow briefly to defecate, preen, bathe, or drink, but it will not go to the feeding grounds until its mate arrives at the burrow. The downy chicks are fed, beginning the day after hatching, by both parents during their 35-day nestling and fledging period. Their food is mostly fish, including many blennies, sculpins, and sand lances, brought in the parent’s bill throughout the daylight hours. The chicks may reject fish that are awkward to swallow or that have sharp spines. Fledged chicks eventually desert the burrow by night and may be coaxed out by a fish dangling in the parent’s bill. The young are then independent, and they disappear offshore to feed without the parents, who may remain to loaf about the colony during morning hours for several weeks.

Behaviour patterns like those of the pigeon guillemot run through many species with various modifications. Many alcids are burrow nesters, and some (Uria) habitually nest on narrow ledges of vertical cliffs, where they rest on their tarsi facing the rock wall. Some murrelets (Brachyrhamphus) nest in rock crevices above the timberline on mountains, and in trees of the taiga zone. Both sexes incubate the one or two eggs and feed the young at the nest site until it is nearly or completely fledged. Other murrelets (Synthliborhamphus) are truly nidifugous (precocious), their downy chicks taking to the sea within two days of hatching. Many alcids nest in immense colonies of mixed species, which segregate in part according to their specialized needs for nesting and feeding. They migrate to pelagic winter feeding grounds by swimming.