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Duck Island is home to approximately 5000 seabirds and is located near Tuxedni Channel on the western shore of Cook Inlet. The waters surrounding Duck Island only support low densities of fish due in part to the warm, less saline ocean regime. Since prey species are not abundant, birds nesting on Duck have to forage farther from the colony and more often to find adequate food for themselves and their chicks. For at least the last three decades, the numbers of breeding birds on Duck Island is decreasing at a rapid rate. Duck Island is 2.4 hectares in size and is very thickly vegetated (see photo 4). The dominant vegetation is alder (Alnus crispa) with an understory of devils club (Oplopanax horridus), salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), and nettles (Urtica lyallii). Many birds use the vegetation as visual cover from predators, but some common murres on Duck have really taken this to the extreme! On Duck there are several dense groupings of murres that nest tightly packed under a canopy of alder and elderberry (see photo 1). These birds shuffle about the flat dirt floor and even hop amongst the fallen trees! In addition to thick vegetation, Duck also has several other types of habitat, including lots of talus (see photo 5) and rock crevices that make good nesting habitat for parakeet auklets (Cyclorrhynchus psittacula) and (approx. 3000) horned puffins (Fratercula corniculata). Along the perimeter of the island, there are a few rocky ledges and sea stacks on which black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), and common murres (Uria aalge) nest. Murres, kittiwakes and horned puffins are the most abundant birds on the island, but it is also host to pelagic cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus), double-crested cormorants (P. auritus), tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata), and glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens).

In comparison, Gull Island is one third the size of Duck Island and has more than three times as many nesting birds (> 16,000). Gull is located in the heavily trafficked waters off the Homer Spit, in Kachemak Bay, and is surrounded by relatively high food abundance. The birds living on Gull find plenty of high-quality food by foraging relatively close to the colony. For the last several decades, the numbers of birds nesting on Gull Island have steadily increased, and in recent years populations appear to have stabilized. The islet is scantly vegetated with herbaceous species including cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum), beach rye grass (Elymus mollis), and nettle. The vegetation offers little protection from frequent predators such as bald eagles, Northwestern crows, and common ravens, though by the height of the summer the glaucous-winged gull nests are quite hidden by the lush foliage of these three plant species. The island is completely ringed by steep rocky cliffs that are saturated with nesting black-legged kittiwakes, common murres, and pelagic and red-faced cormorants (see photo 3 and photo 6). On the top of the island are areas of level, exposed rock and bare soil which support large numbers of common murres (see photo 2). Along the top rim of the island, tufted puffins burrow into the dirt to nest. Other birds found on the island include a few pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba), and a few horned puffins.