Funk Island - Breeding Colonies

Breeding Colonies

Eleven marine bird species have been known to breed on Funk Island.

• the Great Auk
• the Arctic Tern
• the Northern Gannet
• the Northern Fulmar
• the Great Black-backed Gull
• the Herring Gull
• the Black-legged Kittiwake
• the Razorbill
• the Thick Billed Murre
• the Atlantic Puffin and
• the Common Murre

In 1972 the largest population on the Funk Island was that of the Thin-Billed or Common Murre, the population count was 396,461 pairs. That number accounts for 80% of the breeding population in eastern North America and makes Funk Island one of the most important of the sea bird colonies in the world. In 1982 the sea bird population on Funk Island was estimated at over 1,000,000 birds.