The Bomb Cyclone and Birds at Sea

There was the hype. There was the footage of swirling, blowing snow, of waves piling up and spilling across oceanside streets. Brave weather people, geared up and giddy with anticipation, ignored their own advice and reported from the frontlines of Winter Storm Hernando, aka, the “bomb cyclone.” Whether or not it was the bomb, or instead, more or less bombed, may have depended upon where you live. For seabirds wintering off Maine’s coast, the terms used to describe the storm meant nothing; they just had to endure it.  

Wind speeds were reported to have reached 75 mph, and the marine forecast mentioned 15–18-foot seas. What do birds out on the open ocean experience when it’s like this? Species like Dovekies and murres spend 24 hours a day out there, without returning to land until the spring breeding season.  

Naturally, seabirds of northern oceans have evolved to deal with conditions that may be unimaginable to humans; otherwise, they would have died off long ago. That being said, we know that occasionally large numbers of some seabirds do in fact die and wash ashore. Many others are sometimes pushed close to shore or even inland under extreme weather. Dovekies, the smallest member of the North Atlantic auk family (and close relatives of the beloved Atlantic Puffin), are one of the more famous of the auks to have large “wrecks,” as they are called—when many die or are pushed near-shore in a weakened condition.  

Thankfully, here in Maine, Dovekie wrecks are not common, and they seem to be happening less frequently in recent decades. Most seem to take place between late November through December. Dovekies breed in the Arctic and winter in greatest abundance off Greenland and Labrador out to the Grand Banks. Thus, they apparently typically start heading north from the Gulf of Maine by February. 

In 2021, a scientific paper with the sad title, “North Atlantic Winter Cyclones Starve Seabirds,” tried to use some big weather and bird tracking datasets paired with bird energy models to better understand how major winter storms might impact seabirds like Dovekies, murres, puffins, and kittiwakes. 

Among their findings was that more of the lowest pressure–highest wind speed winter storms occur in the northern seas (north of Maine), where the highest concentrations of many of the seabirds spend the winter. The researchers’ models of how much energy birds used in storms predicted that total energy use might actually not be higher, since they have evolved ways to adapt to cold and windy conditions. But what is likely happening during a storm is that they can’t find food very easily and may have to fast until the storm is over. 

The smallest birds, like Dovekies, their model predicted, may only be able to fast for a few days. That makes them particularly vulnerable to longer storms or storms that arrive too close together, timewise. If the storm also blows them away from the best feeding areas, it will take time and energy to find their way back, contributing to their vulnerability. 

Given the spell of cold weather we had earlier, we wonder if Dovekies or other seabirds were wintering farther south in offshore waters than in recent years. If so, were more of the birds wintering in the Gulf of Maine impacted by this storm? In January, an Ivory Gull was spotted in Penobscot Bay—did Hernando send it closer to the coast?  

You can be sure, birders will be scanning the shores in the coming days to see what seabirds the bomb cyclone of February 2026 might have blown in. Hope to see you out there! 

—Allison and Jeff Wells