The Nature of Southeast Alaska by Richard Carstensen

Author:Richard Carstensen
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780882409290
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books

Murrelet chick, at twenty-three days old, well camouflaged in its ground nest.

Same chick at thirty-five days, just before fledging, in bolder black-and-white ocean colors.

Adult female rufous. Tail-fanning is an aggressive display. Compare adult male in following sidebar.

Foraging sites of the three species in breeding season tend to differ. Kittlitz’s commonly feed in glacial fiords. Marbled murrelets forage in a variety of inshore locations and sometimes even in freshwater lakes. Ancient murrelets typically forage well offshore.

In breeding season Kittlitz’s murrelets forage on juvenile capelin and pollock, sand lance, Pacific herring, Pacific sandfish, krill, and other crustaceans. They may eat more crustaceans than marbled murrelets do.

Breeding marbled murrelets forage on sand lance, Pacific herring, capelin, smelt, and seaperch. In winter, they include more krill, shrimp, and even squid. Ancient murrelets eat a variety of small fishes and lots of krill.

Conservation concerns for marbled murrelets include loss of forest habitat in the southern parts of their range; this species is endangered down south. Kittlitz’s murrelet is at risk because of its restricted habitat and the effect of climate warming in hastening glacial recession.

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