Species: Synthliboramphus antiquus
Ancient Murrelet
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Alcidae
Genus
Synthliboramphus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Mérgulo Antiguo - guillemot à cou blanc
Informal Taxonomy
<p>Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds</p>
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Alcidae - Synthliboramphus - Constitutes a superspecies with S. SUMIZUSUME of Japan (AOU 1998).
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
Ancient Murrelet: a small auk
Migration
<p>true - true - true - Arrives in northern California in October, most depart abruptly in March. Males arrive in breeding areas in central British Columbia in March or early April, adults and young depart mainly by mid-June (see Johnsgard 1987). Arrives in breeding areas in the Aleutians and the Commander Islands in late April or May.</p>
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Feeds on euphausiids, sandlance, seaperch, decapod larvae, etc. (Gaston 1992). Dives under water for food. See Gaston et al. (1993, Can. J. Zool. 71:64-70) for information on winter feeding ecology near Vancouver Island.
Reproduction Comments
Nesting season varies throughout range; clutches are completed mainly in March-April in China-Korea, June in Aleutians, late April-May in southeastern Alaska and British Columbia (Gaston 1992). Clutch size is 2; second egg is laid about 7-8 days after the first. Incubation is by both parents. Eggs hatch about 35 days after the second egg is laid; in British Columbia, nearly all hatching occurs by mid-June. Eggs can tolerate some chilling late in incubation (Gaston and Powell 1989). Young leave nest at night 2-3 days after hatching, go to sea and are fed by parents until full grown at about 6-8 weeks old. Yearlings and possibly 2-year-olds do not breed. In British Columbia, first breeds usually in 3rd or 4th year (Gaston 1990). Each pair averages 1.5 chicks/year (Queen Charlottes). Forms large colonies. See Gaston (1992) for many further details.
Ecology Comments
In British Columbia, annual survival of breeders was about 75% (Gaston 1990, 1992). Apparently often gregarious in small groups (usually less than 20 individuals, rarely more than 1000) when feeding (Gaston 1992). Important prey species for FALCO PEREGRINUS PEALEI in the Queen Charlotte Islands (Gaston 1993).
Length
25
Weight
206
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G4
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-27
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-27
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S2&US.AK=S4&US.CA=__&US.OR=__&US.WA=__" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Breeding range includes the following regions: Aleutian, Sanak, and Kodiak islands to Haida Gwaii ( Queen Charlotte Islands), and Commander Islands and Kamchatka (Peninskaya Gulf) to Amurland, Sakhalin, Kuriles, Korea, and Dagelet Islands (to Yellow Sea coast of China). This species is sparsely distributed in small colonies on the Asian side of the Pacific and is most abundant in Haida Gwaii ( Queen Charlotte Islands) and adjacent parts of southeastern Alaska; it is also abundant at Sandman Reefs and other islands south of the Alaska Peninsula (Gaston 1992). Outside the breeding season the distribution extends well to the south of the breeding range; in North America, this murrelet occurs offshore from the Pribilof Islands to northern Baja California (AOU 1983).
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)