Long-billed murrelet
| Long-billed murrelet | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Alcidae |
| Genus: | Brachyramphus |
| Species: | B. perdix |
| Binomial name | |
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Brachyramphus perdix (Pallas, 1811). |
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The long-billed murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix) is a small seabird from the North Pacific. The genus name Brachyramphus is from Ancient Greek brakhus, "short", and rhamphos, "bill". The species name perdix is Latin for "partridge" Pallas described this auk as Magnitudine Perdicis. "Murrelet" is a diminutive of "murre", a word of uncertain origins, but which may imitate the call of the common guillemot.
This auk is an unusual member of the auk family, often nesting far inland in old growth forests. The long-billed murrelet, like its cousins the marbled and Kittlitz's murrelets, 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 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.
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.
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.
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Wikipedia