Brachyramphus marmoratus Original1 prepared by Alan Burger Species Information Taxonomy
is a member of the auk family (Alcidae). No sub-species are recognized in North America (AOU 1997). Some intraspecific morphological and molecular variation has been found among popu-lations of Marbled Murrelets (reviewed in Burger 2002). The small population in the western Aleutian Islands, Alaska,...
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.618.4275 http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/370399/b_marbledmurrelet.pdf |
| Summary: | is a member of the auk family (Alcidae). No sub-species are recognized in North America (AOU 1997). Some intraspecific morphological and molecular variation has been found among popu-lations of Marbled Murrelets (reviewed in Burger 2002). The small population in the western Aleutian Islands, Alaska, shows some genetic differences from the rest of the North American population, but samples from British Columbia, southeastern Alaska, Washington, and Oregon showed no consistent genetic differences or evidence of subspecies. Description Small seabird (length 24–25 cm; mass 190–270 g; Nelson 1997). There is no sexual size or colour dimorphism. Adults in breeding plumage have a marbled grey-brown plumage that provides good camouflage at nest sites. The non-breeding (basic) and juvenile plumages are black and white, typical of most seabirds. Marbled Murrelets forage by diving, using its wings for underwater propulsion (Gaston and Jones 1998). Adaptations for this mode of foraging include increased flight muscles and reduced wing area, resulting in high wing-loading. The consequences are that Marbled Murrelets need to fly fast (generally more than 70 km/h), are not very maneuvrable in flight, and have difficulty landing and taking off. This in turn affects their choice of nest site and vulnerability to terrestrial predators (details below). |
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