Long-billed Murrelet

Brachyramphus perdixOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Auks, Murres and Puffins (Alcidae)

Codes: Common Name: LBMU Scientific Name: BRAPER ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554143

Long-billed Murrelet: The breeding adult Long-billed Murrelet has a dark brown barred body and paler throat.

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Overview

Long-billed Murrelet: Small seabird with dark brown upperparts and darker brown barring, paler throat and white eye-ring. Underparts are lighter brown with brown barring. Straight black bill. Legs and feet are brown. Strong fast direct flight, often close to the water on rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Long Billed Murrelet: Rare to casual occurrences reported throughout North America, especially in fall and winter. Preferred habitats include lakes and rivers, rocky places, coniferous and open forests.

Topo Map: Upright-perching Water-like Body

Voice Text

"meer-meer"

Interesting Facts

The Long-billed Murrelet often nests far inland in old growth forests.

Until recently, it was grouped with Marbled Murrelet as a single species but is now given full-species status based on phylogenetic, evolutionary and biological criteria.

Interestingly, when first recognized in the middle of the 19th Century, Marbled and Long-billed Murrelets were treated as separate species.

A group of auks has many collective nouns, including a "colony", "loomery", and "raft" of auks.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Long-billed Murrelet

● Song: "meer-meer"

● Foraging & Feeding: Long Billed Murrelet: Diet consists of fish and crustaceans; forages by diving from the surface.

● Breeding & nesting: Long Billed Murrelet: One blue-green egg is laid in a nest made of moss and lichens, built far from the ocean, usually on the branch of a conifer. Incubation is estimated to be 27 to 30 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Long Billed Murrelet: Marbled Murrelet has cinnamon-brown underparts with black mottling and bars. Kittlitz's Murrelet has a shorter bill and whiter underparts.

Flight Pattern

Strong fast powerful flight.

● Range & Habitat: Long Billed Murrelet: Rare to casual occurrences reported throughout North America, especially in fall and winter. Preferred habitats include lakes and rivers, rocky places, coniferous and open forests.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationRare to casual

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight8 - 10 Ounces

Upright-perching Water-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America