Ancient Murrelet

Synthliboramphus antiquus

Chicks leap from cliffside nests into the sea two days after hatching. Your message starts with a leap of faith.

Population: Roughly 1,000,000–2,000,000 mature individuals (IUCN/BirdLife 2018 assessment, based on 2009-era data rated poor quality); population trend decreasing
Habitat: Marine and coastal; breeds colonially in burrows and crevices on vegetated/forested offshore islands in the North Pacific, foraging from the continental shelf out to open ocean and diving underwater to pursue prey
Fun fact: Ancient Murrelet chicks leave the nest burrow for the sea just one to three days after hatching, tumbling down to the water in darkness and calling to reunite with waiting parents, and are never fed on land at all.
Range: North Pacific rim: breeds from the Yellow Sea (China/Korea) and Sea of Okhotsk through the Russian Far East, Kuril and Aleutian Islands, south to Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (roughly half the world population nests there); winters south to California and to Japan/China, with some individuals migrating up to ~8,000 km
Diet: Pursuit-dives underwater for small schooling/mesopelagic fish and larval fish, and planktonic crustaceans/invertebrates; diet skews more toward crustaceans in winter and includes more fish in summer
Size: 0.22 m
Wingspan: 0.455 m
Lifespan: 9 years

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