Ancient Murrelet
There are lots of interesting things to write about this bird that I wanted to upload even though it isn't the best of photos.
Starting with its funny name, Ancient Murrelet, it is called ancient because in breeding plumage its black head is dignified with some grey but that isn't visible on this bird. Its scientific name antiquus was given for the same reason (Synthliboramphus means compressed bill). The name Murrelet doesn't need explaining in America where you call (what we call) Guillemots Murres. So a Murrelet is a little Murre. In my experience this is another scarce and difficult-to-see bird, and I usually only see a handful in the Johnstone Strait among thousands of "Murres". They are confined to the North Pacific and breed mainly on Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) , about 200km north of Vancouver Island but they wander more widely in winter. One individual even appeared in a Puffin colony on Lundy island in England in 1990 and 1991 which I went to see soon after its discovery. Even though it was there for two years, and thousands of people went to see it, I don't think there is a single decent photograph of it.
They also have a really odd breeding strategy because instead of bringing food to their newly hatched chicks, the parents call for them at night to lure them out of their burrow soon after hatching. They nest among tree roots in ancient forests and also nest synchronously in colonies so lots of chicks will be waddling through the forest floor at the same time in pitch darkness, trying to reach the sea. Even when they reach the sea, the parents keep moving away so that the chicks keep paddling so that they will be a long way from land predators by the time daylight breaks. They keep paddling for about 12 hours until they are miles out to sea and it is only then that the parents will start to feed their chicks. Amazingly the chicks can recognise their parent's voice having heard it before they hatched and the family stay together out at sea. This breeding strategy makes the Ancient Murrelet the most oceanic seabird on the planet.
Ancient Murrelet
There are lots of interesting things to write about this bird that I wanted to upload even though it isn't the best of photos.
Starting with its funny name, Ancient Murrelet, it is called ancient because in breeding plumage its black head is dignified with some grey but that isn't visible on this bird. Its scientific name antiquus was given for the same reason (Synthliboramphus means compressed bill). The name Murrelet doesn't need explaining in America where you call (what we call) Guillemots Murres. So a Murrelet is a little Murre. In my experience this is another scarce and difficult-to-see bird, and I usually only see a handful in the Johnstone Strait among thousands of "Murres". They are confined to the North Pacific and breed mainly on Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) , about 200km north of Vancouver Island but they wander more widely in winter. One individual even appeared in a Puffin colony on Lundy island in England in 1990 and 1991 which I went to see soon after its discovery. Even though it was there for two years, and thousands of people went to see it, I don't think there is a single decent photograph of it.
They also have a really odd breeding strategy because instead of bringing food to their newly hatched chicks, the parents call for them at night to lure them out of their burrow soon after hatching. They nest among tree roots in ancient forests and also nest synchronously in colonies so lots of chicks will be waddling through the forest floor at the same time in pitch darkness, trying to reach the sea. Even when they reach the sea, the parents keep moving away so that the chicks keep paddling so that they will be a long way from land predators by the time daylight breaks. They keep paddling for about 12 hours until they are miles out to sea and it is only then that the parents will start to feed their chicks. Amazingly the chicks can recognise their parent's voice having heard it before they hatched and the family stay together out at sea. This breeding strategy makes the Ancient Murrelet the most oceanic seabird on the planet.