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The Black Guillemot or Tystie, Cepphus grylle, is a medium-sized alcid.

Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch, a thin dark bill and red legs and feet. They show white wing linings in flight. In winter, the upperparts are pale grey and the underparts are white. The wings remain black with the large white patch on the inner wing.

Their breeding habitat is rocky shores, cliffs and islands on northern Atlantic coasts in eastern North America as far south as Maine and east to western Europe as far south as Ireland. Some birds breed in Alaska where their range overlaps with the Pigeon GuillemotPigeon Guillemot : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Charadriiformes : Alcidae : Cepphus : columba Binomial name Cepphus columba Pallas, 1811 The Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba is a medium-sized alcid. Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch br. They usually lay their eggs in rocky sites near water.

These birds often overwinter, migratingLong-distance land bird migration Many species of land birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere and winter in warmer regions, often in the tropics or the southern he to open waters if necessary, usually not travelling very far south.

They dive for food from the surface, swimming underwater. They mainly eat fish and crustaceans, also some mollusks, insects and plant material.

The call in the breeding season is a high whistle. The red gape is also prominent then.