| Brachyramphus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Long-billed murrelet Brachyramphus perdix | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Alcidae |
| Genus: | Brachyramphus Brandt, JF, 1837 |
| Type species | |
| Colymbus marmoratus Gmelin, JF, 1789 | |
| Species | |
B. marmoratus | |
Brachyramphus is a small genus ofseabirds from theNorth Pacific.Brachyramphus is fromAncient Greekbrakhus, "short", andrhamphos, "bill". In English the species are named as "murrelets"; this is a diminutive of "murre", a word of uncertain origins, but which may imitate the call of thecommon guillemot.[1][2]
The genusBrachyramphus was introduced in 1837 by the German born naturalistJohann Friedrich von Brandt.[3] Thetype genus was subsequently designated byGeorge Robert Gray as themarbled murrelet.[4][5] The genus name combinesAncient Greekbrakhus meaning "short" withrhamphos meaning "bill".[6]
The genus contains three species:[7]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Brachyramphus marmoratus | Marbled murrelet | Kenai Peninsula, Barren islands, and Aleutian Islands |
.jpg) | Brachyramphus perdix | Long-billed murrelet | Kamchatka to the Sea of Okhotsk |
 | Brachyramphus brevirostris | Kittlitz's murrelet | Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula, sparsely up the west coast and along the Aleutian Islands |
These are unusual members of theauk family, often nesting far inland inforests or on mountain tops. The long-billed murrelet was considered conspecific with the marbled murrelet until 1998, when Friesenet al. showed that themtDNA variation was greater between these two forms than between marbled and Kittlitz's murrelets.[8]
These species breed in the subarctic North Pacific. They tend to remain coastal in winter, either staying near the breeding grounds, or, in the case of long-billed,migrating to the coast ofJapan.
Two prehistoric species have been described fromLate Pliocenefossils, found in theSan Diego Formation of the southwestern US:Brachyramphus dunkeli Chandler, 1990 andBrachyramphus pliocenus Howard, 1949
These are small chunky auks, no more than 25 cm long. Like other auks, they haveplumage that varies by season. The non-breeding appearance is typically white underneath with mainly black upperparts. The breeding plumage is distinctive in this group; most auks are strongly contrasted with black and white when breeding, butBrachyramphus species are mainly brown, with pale feather edges giving a scaly appearance; the central underparts, normally below the surface on a swimming bird, are white.
Murrelets feed at sea on small fish, larval fish,krill and other smallzooplankton. Chicks are fed with larger fish carried in the bill.
The breeding behaviour of this genus is very unusual. Unlike most other seabirds, they do not breed in colonies or even necessarily close to the sea, instead nesting, depending on species, on branches of old-growthconifers, mountaintops, or on open ground. They lay oneegg on bare ground or on a thicklichen- ormoss-covered branch or hollow. The egg is incubated for a month, then the chick is fed for around 40 days until itfledges and flies unaccompanied to the sea. Breeding success is low and chick mortality high.
All threeBrachyramphus murrelets are globally threatened and declining in numbers. The biggest threat are the loss of nestinghabitat, due to the loss ofold growth forest tologging and retreating, entanglement in (plastic)fishing gear andoil spills.
Genera ofshorebirds and their extinct allies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_svg-element.svg)
