Japanese Murrelet
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The Japanese murrelet or crested murrelet (''Synthliboramphus wumizusume'') is a small
seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
in the
auk An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...
family that occurs along the remote rocky coasts and in the offshore waters of Japan, and may also be found after the breeding season as far as
Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
to the north and in particular off South Korea. With a small and declining population, estimated as of 2017 to total 2,500–10,000 individuals, it is the rarest
alcid An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...
, and the most at risk of
extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
.


Taxonomy

The Japanese murrelet is a
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
species first described by
Coenraad Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...
, as ''Uria wumizusume'', in the text accompanying an 1836 '' livraison'' in the ongoing series ''Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d’oiseaux''. The following year,
Johann Friedrich von Brandt Johann Friedrich von Brandt (25 May 1802 – 15 July 1879) was a German-Russian natural history, naturalist, who worked mostly in Russia. Brandt was born in Jüterbog and educated at a Gymnasium (school), gymnasium in Wittenberg and the Humboldt ...
erected the genus '' Brachyramphus'' and
subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...
''
Synthliboramphus ''Synthliboramphus'' is a small genus of seabirds in the auk family from the North Pacific. The genus name ''Synthliboramphus'' is from Ancient Greek ''sunthlibo'', "to compress", and ''rhamphos'', "bill". The English name "Murrelet" is a dimi ...
'', transferring to it the Japanese murrelet, to which he gave the new specific name ''temminckii''. ''Synthliboramphus'' has since been raised to generic rank, the specific name ''wumizusume'' having priority in accordance with Article 23 of the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the ...
. In its native Japan, the Japanese murrelet is known as the ''kanmuri-umisuzume'' or , ''umisuzume'' being the
vernacular name A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
for the
ancient murrelet The ancient murrelet (') is a bird in the auk family. The English term "murrelet" is a diminutive of "murre", a word of uncertain origins, but which may imitate the call of the common guillemot. Ancient murrelets are called "ancient" because th ...
(''Synthliboramphus antiquus''), from which it may be distinguished by its black crest. The s and z in the Japanese name were reversed by Temminck in the
scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
.


Description

The Japanese murrelet is a smallish seabird in length, with a
wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
of , and weighing some . Its upperparts are blackish and bluish grey, its throat and underparts white, legs and feet a yellowish grey, and short, thick bill a bluish grey, the culmen being darker; the
iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...
is a dark brown. The black head features a white stripe from the top of each eye that meets on the nape, although this is less visible in winter. It may be distinguished from the
Ancient murrelet The ancient murrelet (') is a bird in the auk family. The English term "murrelet" is a diminutive of "murre", a word of uncertain origins, but which may imitate the call of the common guillemot. Ancient murrelets are called "ancient" because th ...
(''Synthliboramphus antiquus''), which also occurs in much of its range, in particular by its summer crest of black feathers in length, although this again is absent in winter. Juveniles resemble winter adults, though the head and upperparts are somewhat browner. The Japanese murrelet's
calls Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
include a quiet , while in flight, and , and while at the nest , , and .


Distribution and habitat

The Japanese murrelet occurs in the boreo-cool and temperate-subtropical waters of the northwest
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. It breeds on the small rocky islets and coasts of Japan from Nanatsujima in
Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...
in the north to Tori-shima in the
Izu Islands The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ō ...
of
Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
to the south, the chief areas being Birōjima in
Miyazaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefecture borders Ōita Prefecture to the north, Kuma ...
, followed by the Izu Islands, and other small islands such as in
Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...
, and in
Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...
; family groups have been reported from the waters off Yashima ain
Kaminoseki is a town located in Kumage District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. As of 2022, the town has an estimated population of 2,193 and a density of . The total area is . Geography Islands * Iwaishima * Yashima * Nagashima Neighbouring munic ...
at the western end of the
Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...
, and a pair with two chicks has been collected off the south coast of Korea, across the
Tsushima Strait or Eastern Channel (동수로 Dongsuro) is a channel of the Korea Strait, which lies between Korea and Japan, connecting the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, and the East China Sea. The strait is the channel to the east and southeast of Tsushima ...
. After breeding, it disperses along
Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
and
Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
, in the warm waters of the
Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...
and
Tsushima Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the K ...
, with records from
Iturup , other_names = russian: Итуру́п; ja, 択捉島 , location = Sea of Okhotsk , coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Islands , total_islands = , major_islands = , area_km2 = 3139 , length_km = 200 , width_km = 27 , coastline = , highest_moun ...
and
Shikotan ; ja, 色丹島 , location = Pacific Ocean , coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Islands , total_islands = 1 , major_islands = , area_km2 = 225 , length = , width = , coastline ...
in the
Southern Kuriles The Kuril Islands dispute, known as the Northern Territories dispute in Japan, is a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over the ownership of the four southernmost Kuril Islands. The Kuril Islands are a chain of islands that stretch b ...
,
Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
,
Peter the Great Bay The Peter the Great Gulf (Russian: Залив Петра Великого) is a gulf on the southern coast of Primorsky Krai, Russia, and the largest gulf of the Sea of Japan. The gulf extends for from the Russian-North Korean border at the mout ...
and
Olga Bay Olga Bay (russian: Залив Ольги, ) is a small (11x4 km) mainly ice-free bay in the Sea of Japan on the east coast of Primorsky Krai. In July 1856 Captain Charles Codrington Forsyth of HMS ''Hornet'' named the bay "Port Michael Seymour ...
in
Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...
,
Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
(1894), South Korea, and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
(1973). It flies back around December and winters mostly offshore from its breeding locations.


Ecology

The Japanese murrelet's diet mostly comprises
krill Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in n ...
, other
plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...
ic
crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
s, crangonid shimps,
larval A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The l ...
and small
pelagic fish Pelagic fish live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters—being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore—in contrast with demersal fish that do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish that are associated with coral reef ...
, including
Pacific herring The Pacific herring (''Clupea pallasii'') is a species of the herring family associated with the Pacific Ocean environment of North America and northeast Asia. It is a silvery fish with unspined fins and a deeply forked caudal fin. The distribut ...
(''Clupea pallasii''),
sculpin A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand a ...
(''Triglops''), and
smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''At ...
(''Osmerus''),
sand eels Sand eel or sandeel is the common name used for a considerable number of species of fish. While they are not true eels, they are eel-like in their appearance and can grow up to in length. Many species are found off the western coasts of Europe ...
(''Ammodytes''), and sandlances (''Hypoptychus dybowskii''). It nests in rocky crevices and hollows, in the gaps between piles of stones, and among the grasses on uninhabited islands. Typically two eggs are laid, a week apart, from late March to early April, though this takes place a little earlier on Tori-shima, at the southern end of its breeding range. Month-long incubation duty is shared almost equally by both parents. The
precocial In biology, altricial species are those in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth. Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the mome ...
chicks are not fed in the nest, but leave it together with their parents on the second night after hatching.


Conservation status

Ending up as
by-catch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...
in the drift nets of commercial fishing operations, direct disturbance and the attraction of
scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding b ...
s to waste left by recreational fishing, predation by
rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
s (''Rattus'' spp.), feral cats (''Felis catus''),
large-billed crow The large-billed crow (''Corvus macrorhynchos''), formerly referred to widely as the jungle crow, is a widespread Asian species of crow. It is very adaptable and is able to survive on a wide range of food sources, making it capable of colonizing ...
s (''Corvus macrorhynchos''), and black-tailed gulls (''Larus crassirostris''), and, to a lesser extent, the ongoing danger from pollution, gives the Japanese murrelet its Vulnerable status on the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...
. The "harvesting" of adults and in particular eggs for much of the twentieth century have also contributed to the low population, while during the nesting season in 1951 and 1952 the Ōnohara Islands, then the main known nesting site, were used as a
bombing range A bombing range usually refers to a remote military aerial bombing and gunnery training range used by combat aircraft to attack ground targets (air-to-ground bombing), or a remote area reserved for researching, developing, testing and evaluatin ...
by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
, resulting in significant
collateral damage Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts. Since the development of precision guided ...
. The species is listed on Appendix I of the
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) or the Bonn Convention, is an international agreement that aims to conserve Animal migration, migratory species t ...
and legally protected in Japan, having been designated in 1975 a
Natural Monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, nat ...
under the 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. In 2009, the Japanese murrelet was adopted as a symbol of
marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is in ...
by the
Wild Bird Society of Japan Wild Bird Society of Japan (日本野鳥の会) was founded in 1934 in Tokyo, Japan. The organisation has 47,000 members and publishes a newsletter called ''Strix''. Other relevant publications include the ''Field Guide to the Birds of Japan'', ''B ...
. On the 2016 ''Red List of China's Vertebrates'', ''Synthliboramphus wumizusume'' ( zh, 冠海雀) has the status
Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...
; with a visiting population of less than 1% of the species, it is included on the 2016 ''Red List of Birds of Taiwan'' with the status NA ("Not Applicable"). As a rare, "migratory" species with local distribution and declining numbers, ''Synthliboramphus wumizusume'' (russian: Хохлатый старик) is included in the 2016 ''Red Data Book of Sakhalin Oblast'' in Category 1, in the 2019 ''Red Data Book of Khabarovsk Krai'', as a vary rare
vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
at the edge of its range, also in Category 1, and in the 2005 ''Red Data Book of Primorsky Krai'' in Category 3. In the 2011 ''Red Data Book of Endangered Birds in Korea'', with mention of occasional breeding on offshore islands ( Gugul Island and the
Liancourt Rocks The Liancourt Rocks, also known by their Korean name of Dokdo or their Japanese name of Takeshima,; ; . form a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. The Liancourt Rocks comprise two ...
), ''Synthliboramphus wumizusume'' ( ko, 뿔쇠오리) has the status Endangered. On the 2020 Japanese Ministry of the Environment
Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...
, ''Synthliboramphus wumizusume'' ( ja, カンムリウミスズメ) has the status Vulnerable, as it had done on the 1991, 1998, and 2007 editions. In
Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...
, it has been designated a Prefectural Endangered Species.


References


External links


BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q495515
Japanese murrelet The Japanese murrelet or crested murrelet (''Synthliboramphus wumizusume'') is a small seabird in the auk family that occurs along the remote rocky coasts and in the offshore waters of Japan, and may also be found after the breeding season as far ...
Pacific auks Birds of Japan Birds of Korea Birds of Russia Natural monuments of Japan Taxa named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck
Japanese murrelet The Japanese murrelet or crested murrelet (''Synthliboramphus wumizusume'') is a small seabird in the auk family that occurs along the remote rocky coasts and in the offshore waters of Japan, and may also be found after the breeding season as far ...
Murrelets