Difference between revisions of "Guadalupe Murrelet" - BirdForum Opus

Latest revision as of 22:35, 25 January 2016

Photo by Glen Tepke
Pacific southwest of Santa Barbara, California, USA, September 2007

Synthliboramphus hypoleucus

Identification

Length 9-9¾ inches (23–25 cm), wingspan 15 inches (38 cm)

Slender black bill
Black upperparts with greyish tinge

Similar Species

Distinguished from two other murrelets in range, Craveri's and Marbled, by white wing linings, shorter bill and less black on face than Craveri's, longer bill and more solidly black upperparts than Marbled. The white crescent in front of and above eye distinguish this species from Scripps's Murrelet.

Distribution

Nests on Los Coronados, Guadalupe, and San Benito islands off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.

Outside of the breeding season, it ranges along the continental shelf from Baja California north, frequently to northern California and more rarely to British Columbia.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.

It was formerly considered conspecific with Scripps's Murrelet under the name Xantus's Murrelet.

Habitat

Nests on arid, rocky islands; otherwise pelagic in warm waters. Rarely seen from shore.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet consists of fish larva and other small items, such as anchovy and krill.

Breeding

They nest in small crevices or under thick bushes on dry islands in loose scattered colonies. The adults only visit the nest at night. The clutch consists of 1-2 eggs which are incubated for about a month. The chicks leave the nest two days after hatching joining up with the adults on the water.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Birdforum thread discussing the taxonomy of this species and the proposed split
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2016)
Neotropical birds
Wikipedia

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Guadalupe Murrelet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Guadalupe_Murrelet

External Links

With a populations estimated to total only 5,600 birds and a very small breeding range, Xantus's Murrelet is considered to be at high risk of extinction on several bird conservation lists:

BirdLife International: Vulnerable - http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3311&m=0

Audubon WatchList 2007: Red - http://web1.audubon.org/science/species/watchlist/profile.php?speciesCode=xanmur

American Bird Conservancy WatchList 2007: Red - http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/science/watchlist/xantus_murrelet.html

U.S. Endangered Species Act: Candidate - http://ecos.fws.gov/species_profile/servlet/gov.doi.species_profile.servlets.SpeciesProfile?spcode=B098

Search for photos of Guadalupe Murrelet in the gallery

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[Image:070908 Xantus's Murrelet 6588.jpg|thumb|500px|right|Photo by {{user|Glen+Tepke|Glen Tepke}}<br /> Pacific southwest of Santa Barbara, [[California]], [[USA]], September 2007]]
 ;[[:Category:Synthliboramphus|Synthliboramphus]] hypoleucus
-[[Image:070908 Xantus's Murrelet 6588.jpg|thumb|500px|right|Photo by Glen Tepke<br />Southern subspecies (S. h. hypoleucus).  Pacific southwest of Santa Barbara, California, USA, 8 September 2007.]]
-[[Image:Xantuss_Murrelet.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Photo by Glen Tepke<br />Northern subspecies (S. h. scrippsi).  Pacific west of Carmel, California, USA, 31 August 2003.]]
 ==Identification==
-Length 9.75 inches (25 cm), wingspan 15 inches (38 cm).  Distinguished from two other murrelets in range, Craveri's and Marbled, by white wing linings, shorter bill and less black on face than Craveri's, longer bill and more solidly black upperparts than Marbled.
+Length 9-9¾ inches (23–25 cm), wingspan 15 inches (38 cm)<br />
+*Slender black bill
+*Black upperparts with greyish tinge
+====Similar Species====
+Distinguished from two other murrelets in range, [[Craveri's Murrelet|Craveri's]] and [[Marbled Murrelet|Marbled]], by white wing linings, shorter bill and less black on face than Craveri's, longer bill and more solidly black upperparts than Marbled.
+The white crescent in front of and above eye distinguish this species from [[Scripps's Murrelet]].
 ==Distribution==
-Nests on six of the Channel Islands ([[Santa Barbara]], [[San Miguel]], [[Santa Cruz]], [[Anacapa]], [[Santa Catalina]], and [[San Clemente]]) in southern [[California]], [[USA]], and on [[Los Coronados]], [[Guadalupe]], and [[San Benito]] islands off the coast of [[Baja]] California, [[Mexico]]. Outside of the breeding season, it ranges along the continental shelf from Baja California north, frequently to northern California and more rarely to [[British Columbia]].
+Nests on Los Coronados, Guadalupe, and San Benito islands off the coast of [[Baja California]], [[Mexico]].
+Outside of the breeding season, it ranges along the continental shelf from Baja California north, frequently to northern California and more rarely to [[British Columbia]].
 ==Taxonomy==
-Two subspecies, which are generally separable in the field.  Nominate southern subspecies has white crescent in front of and above eye.  Northern subspecies (S. h. scrippsi) has much smaller white eye arcs.  Some taxonomists consider the northern form a separate species, Scripps's Murrelet (S. scrippsi).
+This is a [[Dictionary_M-O#M|monotypic]] species.<br />
+It was formerly considered conspecific with [[Scripps's Murrelet]] under the name [[Xantus's Murrelet]].
 ==Habitat==
 Nests on arid, rocky islands; otherwise pelagic in warm waters.    Rarely seen from shore.
 ==Behaviour==
-The diet includes tuna, anchovies, sardines and rockfish.
+====Diet====
+The diet consists of fish larva and other small items, such as anchovy and krill.
-It nests in small crevices, caves and under dense bushes on arid islands in loose scattered colonies.  2 eggs are laid and are incubated for about a month.   It returns to the colony only at night.  The chicks leave the nest within two days of hatching and running actively towards the sea, where the parents call to them.
+====Breeding====
+They nest in small crevices or under thick bushes on dry islands in loose scattered colonies.  The adults only visit the nest at night. The clutch consists of 1-2 eggs which are incubated for about a month. The chicks leave the nest two days after hatching joining up with the adults on the water.
+==References==
+#{{Ref-Clements6thAug15}}#Avibase
+#[http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=2250937 Birdforum thread] discussing the taxonomy of this species and the proposed split
+#Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2016)
+#Neotropical birds
+#Wikipedia
+{{ref}}
 ==External Links==
 With a populations estimated to total only 5,600 birds and a very small breeding range, Xantus's Murrelet is considered to be at high risk of extinction on several bird conservation lists: