Ancient Murrelet - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Glenn Bartley

Synthliboramphus antiquus

Identification

Nonbreeding plumage
Photo by Glen Tepke
Monterey Bay, California, USA, 21 January 2007

• Black head, throat and rear neck
• Grey back
• White underparts
• Short, stubby yellow bill
• Small rounded black tail

Summer plumage adults have white head streaks.

Distribution

North America, Central America, Asia
North America: Canada: British Columbia, Quebec. United States: New England, Alaska, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Washington
Central America: Mexico: Baja California
Asia: Russia, Siberia, China, Korea

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Subspecies antiquus
Photo © by binus1963
Alert Bay, Canada, 2019

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

• S. a. antiquus:

• Eastern Asia, Aleutians and southern Alaska; winters to California

• S. a. microrhynchos:

• Komandorskiye Islands; winters to Ryukyu Islands

Habitat

Open sea.

Behaviour

Breeding

The nest is a burrow excavated among tree roots, under logs or in grass tussocks, sometimes in rock crevices. One or two eggs are laid.

Diet

The diet includes small fish and crustaceans.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Answers.com

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Ancient Murrelet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Ancient_Murrelet

External Links

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