Long-billed Murrelet
Encyclopedia
The Long-billed Murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix) is a small seabird
from the North Pacific. It is an unusual member of the auk
family, often nesting far inland in old growth forest
s. The Long-billed Murrelet, like its cousins the Marbled
and Kittlitz's Murrelet
s, is thought to have experienced a decline in numbers recently.
It closely resembles the Marbled Murrelet, of which it was considered a subspecies until 1998, when Friesen et al. showed that the mtDNA
variation was greater between these two forms than between Marbled and Kittlitz's Murrelets.
This species is found from Kamchatka
to the Sea of Okhotsk
. Most birds winter
in the seas around northern Japan
with some reaching South Korea
and southern Japan. The Marbled Murrelet, in contrast tends to remain closer to its breeding grounds.
that varies by season. The non-breeding appearance is typically white underneath with a black crown, nape, wings and back. The breeding plumage is mainly brown, with pale feather edges giving a scaly appearance; the central underparts, normally below the surface on a swimming bird, are white.
The Long-billed Murrelet is longer billed, slightly larger, and 20% heavier than the Marbled Murrelet, and has a white eye ring. In breeding plumage it shows a pale throat which is absent in Marbled Murrelet, and weaker scaling because of fewer rusty and buff markings. In winter, the Long-billed Murrelet lacks the white collar of Marbled.
s), and inshore in protected bays. It tends to migrate
more than its closest relative the Marbled Murrelet.
The breeding behaviour of the Long-billed Murrelet is very unusual. Unlike most other seabirds, it does not breed in colonies or even necessarily close to the sea, instead nesting in on branches of old-growth conifers(less frequently on open ground) . It lays one egg
on a thick lichen
- or moss
-covered branch or hollow . The egg is incubated for a month, then the chick is fed for around 40 days until it fledge
s and flies unaccompanied to the sea. Breeding success is low and chick mortality high .
. Other losses can occur through entanglement in fishing
gear. The bird could be threatened by the oil development of the Okhotsk and Bering Sea
shelves.
and Europe
, often at inland sites well away from its usual ocean habitat.
There are about 40 records from North America (Mlodinow 1997), half of them on the Pacific coast where they might be expected, but the rest scattered across the continent east to Florida
, Pennsylvania
, New Jersey
, New York
, Massachusetts
, and Newfoundland, as well as on lakes and rivers over a thousand kilometres from the sea, in Colorado
(two), Indiana
(three), Montana
, Ohio
, and Wyoming
(two).
The first found in Europe was a first-winter individual discovered drowned in a fishing net at Zollikon
, Lake Zurich
, Switzerland
on a date between 15 and 18 December 1997. The specimen has been deposited at the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel (Maumary and Knaus 2000).
Europe's second was found at Dawlish Warren
, Devon
, England
on 7 November 2006; initially identified as a Little Auk
, its true identity came to light when photographs were posted to the BirdForum.net website. It was re-found offshore from Dawlish
town centre on 11 November, and attracted large crowds of birdwatchers. The bird was present until 14 November, with an estimated 1000+ birders travelled from as far afield as Edinburgh and (reportedly) Holland to see it http://www.dawlishwarren.co.uk/birdnovember06.html, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6139664.stm.
The third Western Palearctic record followed quickly with a bird on a reservoir in Romania
, on the Olt River near Alsoporumbak
from 21–23 December 2006.
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
from the North Pacific. It is an unusual member of the auk
Auk
An auk is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. Auks are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colours, their upright posture and some of their habits...
family, often nesting far inland in old growth forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s. The Long-billed Murrelet, like its cousins the Marbled
Marbled Murrelet
The Marbled Murrelet is a small seabird from the North Pacific. It is a member of the auk family. It nests in old-growth forests or on the ground at higher latitudes where trees cannot grow...
and Kittlitz's Murrelet
Kittlitz's Murrelet
The Kittlitz's Murrelet, is a small alcid found in the waters off Alaska and Eastern Siberia. This critically endangered species is, like the closely related Marbled Murrelet, unusual for seabirds in not being colonial, nesting instead in isolated locations on mountain tops, where the nests were...
s, is thought to have experienced a decline in numbers recently.
It closely resembles the Marbled Murrelet, of which it was considered a subspecies until 1998, when Friesen et al. showed that the mtDNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
variation was greater between these two forms than between Marbled and Kittlitz's Murrelets.
This species is found from Kamchatka
Kamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
to the Sea of Okhotsk
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and...
. Most birds winter
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
in the seas around northern Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
with some reaching South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and southern Japan. The Marbled Murrelet, in contrast tends to remain closer to its breeding grounds.
Description
The Long-billed Murrelet is a small (25 cm long), chunky auk with a slender black bill. It has pointed wings and plumagePlumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
that varies by season. The non-breeding appearance is typically white underneath with a black crown, nape, wings and back. The breeding plumage is mainly brown, with pale feather edges giving a scaly appearance; the central underparts, normally below the surface on a swimming bird, are white.
The Long-billed Murrelet is longer billed, slightly larger, and 20% heavier than the Marbled Murrelet, and has a white eye ring. In breeding plumage it shows a pale throat which is absent in Marbled Murrelet, and weaker scaling because of fewer rusty and buff markings. In winter, the Long-billed Murrelet lacks the white collar of Marbled.
Behaviour and breeding
The Long-billed Murrelet feeds at sea principally on small fish, both in pelagic offshore areas (often associating with upwellingUpwelling
Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface, replacing the warmer, usually nutrient-depleted surface water. The increased availability in upwelling regions results in high levels of primary...
s), and inshore in protected bays. It tends to migrate
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
more than its closest relative the Marbled Murrelet.
The breeding behaviour of the Long-billed Murrelet is very unusual. Unlike most other seabirds, it does not breed in colonies or even necessarily close to the sea, instead nesting in on branches of old-growth conifers(less frequently on open ground) . It lays one egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
on a thick lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
- or moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
-covered branch or hollow . The egg is incubated for a month, then the chick is fed for around 40 days until it fledge
Fledge
Fledge is the stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. It also describes the act of a chick's parents raising it to a fully grown state...
s and flies unaccompanied to the sea. Breeding success is low and chick mortality high .
Conservation
The Long-billed Murrelet is considered globally threatened, having declined across its range over the last few decades. The biggest threat to the murrelet is the loss of the old growth forest to loggingLogging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
. Other losses can occur through entanglement in fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
gear. The bird could be threatened by the oil development of the Okhotsk and Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
shelves.
Vagrancy
The species is unusually prone to vagrancy, with records in both North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, often at inland sites well away from its usual ocean habitat.
There are about 40 records from North America (Mlodinow 1997), half of them on the Pacific coast where they might be expected, but the rest scattered across the continent east to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and Newfoundland, as well as on lakes and rivers over a thousand kilometres from the sea, in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
(two), Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
(three), Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
(two).
The first found in Europe was a first-winter individual discovered drowned in a fishing net at Zollikon
Zollikon
Zollikon is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-Geography:Zollikon has an area of . Of this area, 21.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 37.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 40.8% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
, Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. It is also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich. It lies approximately at co-ordinates ....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on a date between 15 and 18 December 1997. The specimen has been deposited at the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel (Maumary and Knaus 2000).
Europe's second was found at Dawlish Warren
Dawlish Warren
Dawlish Warren is a small seaside resort near the town of Dawlish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon in England. Dawlish Warren consists almost entirely of holiday accommodation and facilities for holiday-makers especially caravan sites....
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on 7 November 2006; initially identified as a Little Auk
Little Auk
The Little Auk, or Dovekie , is a small auk, the only member of the genus Alle. It breeds on islands in the high Arctic. There are two subspecies: A. a. alle breeds in Greenland, Iceland, Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen, and A. a...
, its true identity came to light when photographs were posted to the BirdForum.net website. It was re-found offshore from Dawlish
Dawlish
Dawlish is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon in England, from the county town of Exeter. It has a population of 12,819...
town centre on 11 November, and attracted large crowds of birdwatchers. The bird was present until 14 November, with an estimated 1000+ birders travelled from as far afield as Edinburgh and (reportedly) Holland to see it http://www.dawlishwarren.co.uk/birdnovember06.html, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6139664.stm.
The third Western Palearctic record followed quickly with a bird on a reservoir in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, on the Olt River near Alsoporumbak
Porumbacu de Jos
Porumbacu de Jos is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, central Romania, first documented in 1473. It is composed of five villages: Colun, Porumbacu de Jos, Porumbacu de Sus, Sărata and Scoreiu....
from 21–23 December 2006.
Further reading
- Dunn, J. L. et al., eds. (1999). Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 3rd ed. National Geographic. ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
- Harrison, P. (1983). Seabirds, an Identification Guide. Helm. (1983) ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 3, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-20-2
- Friesen, V. L., Piatt, J. F., & Baker, A. J. (1996). Evidence from allozymes and cytochrome b sequences for a new species of alcid: the Long-billed Murrelet. Condor 98: 681-690.
- Maumary, L. and Knaus, P. (2000). Marbled Murrelet in Switzerland: a Pacific Ocean auk new to the Western Palearctic British BirdsBritish Birds (magazine)British Birds is a monthly ornithology magazine that was established in 1907. It is now published by BB 2000 Ltd, which is wholly owned by The British Birds Charitable Trust , established for the benefit of British ornithology...
93: 190-199 (this article on Europe's first Long-billed Murrelet was published when the species was still regarded as conspecificConspecificityConspecificity is a concept in biology. Two or more individual organisms, populations, or taxa are conspecific if they belong to the same species....
with Marbled Murrelet; the latter species has not occurred in Europe). - Mlodinow, S. G. (1997). The Long-billed Murrelet in North America. Birding 1997 (12): 460-475. Available online (pdf file).
- Nechaev, V. A (1986) - New information about seabirds on Sakhalin Island - in Morskie Ptitsy Dalnego Vostoka (Seabirds in the Far East) pages 71–81 USSR Academy of Science, Vladivostok
- Konyukhov, N. B and Kitaysky A. S (1995) - The Asian race of the Marbled Murrelet. In Ecology and conservation of the Marbled Murrelet (C J Ralph et al.) US Forest Service, California