Kittlitz's Murrelet
Brachyramphus brevirostris
Small, oblong-shaped seabird. Breeding plumage mottled brown; darkness varies, but often shows golden tint. Nonbreeding plumage dark gray above and white below, with a white face and large white wing patch. Nests in crevices in rocky scree slopes, particularly around glaciers; forages in coastal glacial outflows. Similar to Marbled and Long-billed Murrelets, but with shorter bill and white outer tail feathers; breeding birds average paler with speckled back, while nonbreeders show white on face extending above the eye.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Brachyramphus brevirostris
- Authority
- (Vigors, 1829)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Alcidae
- Genus
- Brachyramphus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL, NA : Arctic to subarctic nw to ne North Pacific coasts: patchily from Wrangel I. (n of ne Siberia), Chukotka, ne Kamchatka, n Sea of Okhotsk (e Russia); Bering Sea and Aleutian Is., Gulf of Alaska to se Alaska; nests up to 75 km inland
- Non-breeding range
- to bays and fjords within breeding range
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Kittlitz's murrelet feeds close to the shore, in particular in the waters around tidewater glaciers. It feeds on larval fish, krill and other small zooplankton. Chicks are fed with slightly larger fish carried in the bill.<p>The Kittlitz's murrelet is one of the least known auks, although it is known not to be colonial, nesting instead above the tree line on mountains inland from the sea. The nests are situated on south facing slopes on bare ground, often close to snow. A single egg is laid (and incubated for an unknown amount of time). Chicks are fed throughout the day, and reach fledging weight in around 25 days. The exposed nature of the nesting grounds mean that chicks keep their downy feathers later than most other birds, losing the down 12 hours before they fledge. It is assumed that they fly to sea on fledging, but it has also been suggested that they reach the seas through rivers. After the chick fledges it is thought to receive no further parental care, no chick has ever been seen with an adult at sea.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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