two manners of the Alken summarizes one under the term "Lummen": the 39-48 cm, usually however by 42 cm of big Trottellummen (Uria aalge) and them equally big and also approximately 1 kg of heavy Dickschnabellummen (Uria lomvia). After the wiped out Riesenalk, it is the biggest Alkenvögel.
Shape Both Lummenarten let themselves distinguish only severely of each other, only from next proximity, the darker Kopfbefiederung as well as the shorter and thicker beak (with its whitish side-stripe) of the Dickschnabellummen attract attention. Particularly the northern subtype of the Trottellumme (Uria aalge aalge) with their upper side (more brownish at the head) ebony in the summer is verwechselbar with Dickschnabellummen easily.
The southern subtype of the Trottellumme (Uria aalge albionis) has a more brown body-upper side in the brood-dress. In the winter, the back-plumage of both subtypes looks brightly dun. One calls a (particularly with the northern population frequent) color-variation of the Trottellumme with white eye-ring and a narrow, white strip, that moves in the neck from the eye-ring, "Ringellumme." With Dickschnabellummen, the black plumage of the head-upper side moves in the silence-dress (in the winter) farther at the side down as with the Trottellummen.
Spread Both Lummenarten differ of each other also in the behavior; here and there, they brood in common colonies; However, "mixed marriages" are not known.
The brood-area of the Trottellumme stretches over the coasts of the North-Atlantic and North-Pacific as well as over the adjoining ice-sea-coasts. The southern spread-borders go as far as to the British islands (here and there even until Portugal) in the Atlantic area, in the Pacific as far as to Korea, North-Japan and California. Dickschnabellummen brood in the arctic waters farther north; its most southern occurrences are at Iceland and Newfoundland as well as. Sachalin, with the Kurilen and the Kodiak-Insel Alaska.
Reproduction Lummen brood colony-wisely on rock-ledges and cliffs at unapproachable steep-coasts; the brood-pairs stand on closest area together often together. The big (8,1 x 5 cm) ones, individually is set aside directly on the rock-underground drawn, pear-shaped eggs (only 1 eggs per brood-pair) and rests on the swimming-skins of the alto-birds during the Bebrütung. The dense stomach-plumage of the brooding Lumme (both partners brood for 28-35 days altogether) protects the egg from cooling. The characteristic patterns of its egg make the retrieval possible for the respective parents also in large colonies. Through the pear-good form, a Lummenei rolls only negligibly around and can get lost so less easily on the narrow rock-ribbons as the more spherical eggs of other bird-types.
The newly slipped nestling is dense covered with brown Dunen, but already after few days, the first feathers appear. Both parents provide the young Lummen for 3-4 weeks with small fishings and invertebrates (cancer-animals, mollusks and ringlet-worms) until these leave their hatchery removed from the open water usually only few meters and out-swim on the sea. Usually the alto-birds wait for the water at the foot of the cliffs and lure its young, until finally, it dares the jump - often from big height -. Occasionally, the parents even shall one little after-helps, in that they press the young Lumme cautiously to the rock-edge or they carry with its beaks at the wings. Only after 3 further weeks, the young Lummen molt and then become airworthy. Adult Lummen (the parents) lead until this point?) the even much smaller squabs.
Food Lummen live almost exclusively from fishings; with Dickschnabellummen, it is 95 percent of all loot-animals. Both its eggs and the full-grown Lummen even are eaten by the people gladly in many places.
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