Bird Research News

Vol.5 No.6

2008.6.17.

Long-billed Murrelet Madara-Umisuzume (Jpn) Brachyramphus perdix (marmoratus)
Morphology and classification
Classification: Charadriiformes Alcidae
Some authors advocate that
Asian population of Marbled
Murrelets should be separated
from that of North America
and given species status Fig. 1. Heads of Long-billed Murrelet(Friesen et al. 1994). The(left) and Marbled Murrelet (right)
Asian population are definitein winter plumage. Note bill lengthand plumage coloration.
ly heavier with a longer bill.
Wing length (North America): ♂ 128-140mm
Wing length (Asia):♂ 136-147mm
Culmen length (NA):♂ 13.2-17.4mm
Culmen length (Asia):♂ 18.9-22.2mm
Tarsus length (NA):♂ 15.1-17.6mm
Tarsus length (Asia):♂ 17.0-18.7mm
Weight (NA):♂ 196.2-252.5g
Weight (Asia):
268-357g♀ 122-139mm♀ 130-145mm♀ 13.7-17.6mm♀ 18.0-21.0mm♀ 13.9-17.3mm♀ 16.8-22.2mm♀ 188.1-269.1g

The measurements are after Sealy 1975, Shibaev 1990, and Kuroda & Kakizawa
1982.

Appearance:
Male and female Long-billed Murrelets are similar in summer and winter plumage colorations. They have awhite band at the base of the wing inthe summer plumage. They arebrownish black on the upperpart anddotted with black flecks from thethroat to the abdomen. The density
and shades of this fleck vary depending on the individual and age. I
have once seen a Long-billed Murre- Photo 1. Long-billed Murreletthat died immediately after
let similar in plumage coloration torescued on Maehama
Scaly Thrushes (Zoothera dauma).
beach of Shari Town on
In the winter plumage the underpart
September 12, 2004.
is white, but the upperpart is almost
the same as in the summer plumage.

Vocalization:
Long-billed Murrelets whistle like "Phee, phee", which is reminiscent of Bullfinch calls. They give even shriller calls for a longer
time like "Hifee, hifee" when they call other individuals. In thedisplay, on the other hand, they utter "Fihee, fihee" together.

Distribution and Habitat
Distribution:
In the breeding period, Long-billed Murrelets are distributed in theRussian Far East seaboard from Primorsky Province to the Kamchatka Peninsula, Sakhalin Island, the Kurile Islands and Japan(Hokkaido). In Sakhalin they were confirmed to breed in 35 sites(Konyukhov & Kitaysky 1995). They go down as south as southern Honshu (the largest main island of Japan) in winter. In North
America, on the other hand, Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphusmarmoratus) breed in the North Pacific seaboard from California
to Alaska including the Aleutian Islands.

Breeding habitat:
In Sakhalin Island, Long-billed Murrelets breed in coniferous forests and mixed forests of broad-leaved and coniferous trees oflowlands and mountains at a distance of 0-30km from the coast(Nechaev 1986). In Japan, on the other hand, there is only one
breeding record from the foot of Mt. Mokoto in Hokkaido in 1961
(Sekine 1987). It was reported that a Long-billed

4Breeding area
Murrelet was captured as it
The site of high possibility
was incubating in a nest onof breeding.
the ground in a forest about
20km inland from the Sea ofMagadan
Okhotsk. Mt. Mokoto is covered with a mixed forest
Kamchatka
composedprimarilyofspruce (Picea glehnii) andSea of Okhotsk
birch (Betula ermanii). Mosses and Usnea lichen grew on
the lateral branches of coniAmur River
Sakhalinfers. This old report indicatedthat the nest lay on theground and contained three
Etorofu
eggs. However Long-billed
Kunashiri
Murrelets are known to lay a
Hokkaido
single egg in a nest on large
branches of tall coniferous
trees. Since the description of Fig. 2. Distribution of Long-billed
Murrelets.
the report does not match thenesting habits of this species,
two possibilities are considered; the reported nest had not belonged to this species, or had fallen off a nearby tree if it was really the nest of this species.

Life history
123456wintering period7891011 12

breeding migration

Breeding system:
Long-billed Murrelets are assumed to be monogamous.

Nest:
Marbled Murrelets in North America make a hollow on the mosscovered lateral branch of a large coniferous tree using their own
weight and lay an egg in it. In a treeless region, however, they lay
eggs in a crevice of a rock on the ground.
Most information on Long-billed Murrelets is fragmentary, but thefour nests discovered in Russia were all built in larch forests. The
nest found in the Kukuchtui River valley near Okhotsk City 6km
from the coast was built on a pile of several moss-covered branches of a deformed larch at a height of 7m above the ground. The one
discovered in Sakhalin was built in the broken treetops at a heightof 5m above the ground at a distance of 2km from the coast.

Egg and incubation period:
The clutch size of Long-billed Murrelets is one egg. The egg is 5666mm by 39mm in size and about 50g in weight. In Marbled
Murrelets, the incubation period is 28-30 days. Males and females
alike incubate eggs. Incubation is changed at daybreak every 24hours. When parent birds return to the nest, they give sharp shrills
while flying. In Russia, Long-billed Murrelets call from five toseven o'clock in the morning but hardly ever after eight (Necheav1986). It is assumed, therefore, that they return to the nest in theearly morning.

Nestling period and fledging:
Hatching period can be roughly estimated from the period thatparent birds carry food to the nestlings. In the southern part of thebreeding range, the nestling period was from early June to lateJuly, and in the northern part, parent birds carried fish from late
July to late August (Shibaev 1990).
In Marbled Murrelets, nestlings fledge 27-40 days after hatching,weighing 58-71% of adult weight. In Japan, the nestlings haveprobably fledged by late August because four out of five birds
were juveniles that were captured on the coast of Koshimizu
Town, northeastern Hokkaido on August 25, 1982. It is assumed
that the young leave the nest directly for the sea at fledging.

Bird Research News

Vol.5 No.6

2008.6.17.

© Japan Bird Research Association
Sumiyoshi 1-29-9, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan

Diet and foraging behaviorLong-billed Murrelets usually forage alone or in a pair in thebreeding period. They feed in the area from 200-300m to 2-3km
off the southwestern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk (Babenko &Poyarkov 1987). In the Amur lagoon, they feed in the brackisharea at a depth of 1-10m about 5-10km from the shore (Shibaev1990). In Japan, they feed in the breeding period around the Shiretoko Peninsula, northeastern Hokkaido (Rusha Bay, the coast ofKoshimizu, Maehama of Shari Town and Minehama of Rausu
Town). These are relatively shallow sandy seafloor areas. They arealso a suitable habitat for sand lance which is the staple food ofLong-billed Murrelets.

Topics of ecology, behavior and conservation● Courtship display
Two birds swim side by side moving the bills up and down. They
occasionally dive synchronously or take flight as if startled andone of them chases after the other. While calling each other, twobirds swim close together, moving their bills up and down simultaneously and one of them swim around the other.

● Findings of study up to dateI started to search for the nesting grounds of Long-billed Murrelets
and study their distribution in the sea in 1998. I could observe
courtship displays as well as seven birds in the vicinity of Rusha in
the central part of the Shiretoko Peninsula in 1998. So I expected
them to breed somewhere in the peninsula. But it became difficult
even to sight them afterwards.
I resumed the study in earnest in2007 when I received a subsidy
from Patagonia. I found a bird tookflight off Rausu Town near Shiretoko Point and head south along
the coast on 29 April. On 30 April,a bird was swimming in an area
about 2km off Minehama of Rausu Photo 1. Long-billed Murrelet
Town. On 29 July, two birds werein summer plumage off theshowing a courtship display in anestuary of the Rusha River,area about 4km off Minehama ofnortheastern Hokkaido in1998.
Rausu Town. However, no Longbilled Murrelets could be foundaround Rusha on the Shari (west) side of the Shiretoko Peninsula
where they were frequently observed in 1998.
"No-visa exchange of specialists" gave me an opportunity to study
Long-billed Murrelets in the Northern Territories in 2002 and2003, when seven and five birds were observed in Etorofuto andKunashirito Islands, respectively. I obtained some informationsuggesting their breeding. For instance, some local Russian residents told me that they saw Long-billed Murrelets flying inlandfrom the coast, or heard them calling inland. Although observing
from the sea, there were many large conifers with mossy branches
suitable for their nesting in the forests. Especially, the larch forests
at the foot of Mt. Chacha in the northern part of Kunashirito andEtorofuto are favorable for the nesting of this species. It is highly
probable, therefore, that Long-billed Murrelets still breed in theseforests.

● Destruction of the breeding grounds
In Sakhalin Island which is the largest breeding ground of Longbilled Murrelets, however, deforestation and large-scale development such as oil field development are underway, which may deteriorate their habitat. In Kunashirito and Etorofuto Islands, econom-

バードリサーチ生態図鑑
ically developing Russia has been advancing development as well,which has caused concern for environmental disruption.
If Long-billed Murrelets are confirmed to breed in the Northern
Territories and Hokkaido in the future, they will be a symbol of theconservation of an ecosystem including the sea and forests. I
would do anything to locate the nesting grounds and clarify thedetailed ecology of Long-billed Murrelets to accelerate the environmental conservation.

Literature
Babenko VG. & Poyarkov ND. 1987. Short data on rare species. Marbled Murreleton the south-east coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Ilfyashenko VY. ed. Problems ofrare animals protecture. 149-151. (in Russian)Fresen VL., Baker AJ. & Piatt JF. 1994. A molecular investigation of evolutionary
relationships within the Alcidae (abstract). Pacific Seabirds 21:39.
Konyukhov NB. & Kitaysky AS. 1995. The asian race of the marbled murrelet.
Ecology and conservation the Marbled Murrelet. Diane Publishing Co. USA. 2329.
Kuroda N., Kakizawa R. & Sekine M. 1993. The Marbled Murrelet in the Okhotsk
coast in Hokkaido. (Abstract of the annual conference of The OrnithologicalSociety of Japan). Tori 32:175. [J]Nechaev VA. 1986. New data on the seabirds of Sakhalin Island. Livtinenko NM.
ed. Seadbirds of far East. Vlandivostok, USSR: Akademia Nauk, SSSR. 71-81.
(In Russian; English translation by Siegel-Causey, D.).
Sealy SG. 1975. Egg size of murrelet. Condor 77:500-501.
Sekine M. 1987. On the ecology and the breeding of the Marbled Murrelet in Koshimizu Town, Hokkaido. Wild birds of Koshimizu. Koshimizu-cho the board ofeducation. 135-140. [J]Shibaev YV. 1990. Marbled Murrelet. Flint, VE. & Golovkin, AN. eds. Birds of theUSSR: Auks (Alcidae). 82-88. (in Russian)Languages of literature cited other than English: [J] in Japanese, [J+E] in Japanesewith English summary.

AuthorYoshihiro FUKUDA Shiretoko Seabird Society
Ten years have already passed since I started to study Long-billedMurrelets. I have always wanted to discover their nesting grounds as afirst step toward the conservation, but nowadays it is not easy to findLong-billed Murrelets even at sea. I might have made a contribution totheir conservation, if I had begun to study them 20 years or more earlier. For all that, I would still like to carry on with the study, expecting a
miraculous result like a come-from-behind home run in
the bottom of the ninth inning. Maho Hidaka and Kuniko Ohtsuki translated someEnglish materials for thismanuscript. I wish to express
my appreciation for theirassistance.
murrelet@d1.dion.ne.jp5