Ancient Murrelet

Synthliboramphus antiquus (Gmelin, JF, 1789)

Ancient Murrelet, Synthliboramphus antiquus, is an auk that breeds across the temperate north-west to north-east Pacific, from Kamchatka, the Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin, the Kuril and Commander islands, and the Sea of Japan and Yellow Sea to the Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska, reaching western British Columbia. Outside the breeding season it moves to the Sea of Japan, the south-west Pacific coast of Japan and southern California, and it also turns up far beyond its usual range. It nests in colonies on islands, with eggs laid in burrows in forest soil, under cover or in crevices.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Alcidae — Auks

Breeding range

Palearctic, North America: temperate nw to ne North Pacific coasts: patchily Kamchatka, Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin, Kuril and Commander is. (e Russia); Sea of Japan and Yellow Sea, Aleutian Is., Gulf of Alaska to w British Columbia (sw Canada)

Nonbreeding range

to Sea of Japan and sw Pacific coast of Japan, and s California; prone to long-distance vagrancy, s Canada and n USA