Long-billed Murrelet
Brachyramphus perdix
Small, chunky seabird of the northwestern Pacific, usually seen at sea, sometimes near land. Breeding adult is chocolate brown with scaled brown-and-white underparts. Wintering adult is gray above and white below with thin white “spectacles” and patchy white splotches on the sides and back. Nonbreeding Spectacled Guillemot perhaps similar but is significantly larger, with much neater black-and-white plumage (and more extensive white on neck), more prominent forehead, and much longer bill.
Identification
The long-billed murrelet is a small (25 cm long), chunky auk with a slender black bill. It has pointed wings and plumage 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.<p>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 the marbled.<p>Measurements:
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Brachyramphus perdix
- Authority
- (Pallas, 1811)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Alcidae
- Genus
- Brachyramphus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : coastal strip of temperate w North Pacific: Kamchatka, Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin (e Russia) and n Hokkaido (n Japan); nests up to 30 km inland
- Non-breeding range
- to coastal c Japan; prone to long-distance vagrancy to continental USA
- Migration
- Resident species
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 logging. 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.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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Ptilinopus ponapensis
Colorful forest dove found solely on the Caroline Islands of Chuuk and Pohnpei; the only fruit-dove on these islands. Adult has a bright purple cap, leaf-green back and wings, and a broad lemon-yellow tail tip. Juvenile is green all over, but with darker wings. Forages in trees and bushes, feeding primarily on fruit. Song is a series of coos that accelerate before tapering off quietly.
Yellow-wattled Lapwing
Vanellus malabaricus
Elegantly long-winged brown lapwing. Breeding adult has clean black cap, bright yellow facial wattles, and a white belly. Non-breeding adults and juveniles are more mottled overall and lack a solid black cap. Note contrasting wing and tail pattern when in flight. Prefers dry open areas, often well away from water. Gives a loud rasping tern-like call and a loud “cheeeee’it” in alarm; generally not as noisy as other lapwings.
Swainson's Sparrow
Passer swainsonii
A drab sparrow of northeastern Africa. The head and underparts are gray, the wing and back are brown, and the rump is rufous. Generally common within its range in all habitats except closed-canopy forest. Fond of human habitation. Very similar to Northern Gray-headed Sparrow, but there is little overlap in range, and Swainson’s has darker underparts. Also very similar to Parrot-billed Sparrow, but slightly smaller and slimmer-billed, with paler underparts. The call is a ringing “churp.”
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