Craveri's murrelet (''Synthliboramphus craveri'') 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 ...

which breeds on offshore islands in both the

Pacific Ocean 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 ...

and the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja Ca ...

off the Baja peninsula of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It also wanders fairly regularly as far as central

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the US, primarily during post-breeding dispersal. It is threatened by predators introduced to its breeding

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

, by oil spills, and by tanker traffic. Increasing tourism development and commercial fishing fleets also further threaten the species. With an estimated population of 6,000-10,000 breeding pairs, its population is listed as vulnerable.

Description and range

The Craveri's murrelet is a small black and white auk with a small head and thin sharp bill. It resembles the closely related

Scripps's murrelet Scripps's murrelet (''Synthliboramphus scrippsi'') is a small seabird found in the California Current system in the Pacific Ocean. This auk breeds on islands off California and Mexico. It is threatened by predators introduced to its breeding col ...

, with which it shares the distinction of being the most southerly living of all the auk species. The Craveri's murrelet has a partial neck collar (Scripps's has none), and dusky underwings (Scripps's has white underwings). Craveri's black face mask dips a bit further down the face compared to the Scripps's. Both species can be also separated by voice.

Behaviour

Craveri's murrelet feeds far out at sea on larval fish such as

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

, rockfish, and

lanternfish Lanternfishes (or myctophids, from the Greek μυκτήρ ''myktḗr'', "nose" and ''ophis'', "serpent") are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represente ...

. Like all auks it is a wing-propelled diver, chasing down prey under the water with powerful wingbeats. It flies well, and can take off without taxiing. The Craveri's murrelet nests in small crevices, caves and under dense bushes on arid islands in loose scattered colonies. It returns to the colony only at night, laying two eggs which are incubated for about a month. Like other murrelets of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Synthliboramphus'' (like the ancient murrelet) the chicks are highly precocial, leaving the nest within two days of hatching and running actively towards the sea, where the parents call to them. Once at sea the family swims to offshore waters. Little is known about the time at sea due to difficulties in studying them.

Threats

Craveri's murrelet is considered by some to be one of the more endangered species of auk. It is threatened by offshore oil drilling and tanker traffic. Increased tourist developments and birds getting caught in nets from commercial fishing operations also pose a danger. It is also threatened by introduced species such as

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

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 and

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

s; this threat has been lessened lately by efforts to restore its habitat by removing introduced predators.

Name

This species was described, named and dedicated to

Federico Craveri Federico Craveri (Turin, 1815 – Bra, 1890) was an Italian explorer, ethnographer, geologist, meteorologist and naturalist noted for his studies in Mexico. Biography Federico Craveri studied chemistry and meteorology at the University of Turin. ...

and

Ettore Craveri Federico Craveri (Turin, 1815 – Bra, 1890) was an Italian explorer, ethnographer, geologist, meteorologist and naturalist noted for his studies in Mexico. Biography Federico Craveri studied chemistry and meteorology at the University of Turin. ...

by the ornithologist Tommaso Salvadori, in acknowledgment of the fact that the Craveri brothers had enriched the Turin Museum of Natural History with many species of birds of Mexico and California.Storrs L. Olso
The name of the Craveri' brothers Murrelet
Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560

References

* Gaston, Anthony; Jones, Ian (1998). The Auks, ''Alcidae''. Oxford University Press, * "National Geographic" ''Field Guide to the Birds of North'' ''America'' *'' Seabirds, an Identification Guide'' by Peter Harrison, (1983) *''Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 3'', Josep del Hoyo editor, *"National Audubon Society" ''The Sibley Guide to Birds'', by David Allen Sibley,

External links

* ttp://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/7001200.htm Stamps(for

) with RangeMap
Craveri's Murrelet photo gallery
VIREO
Photo-Med Res
montereyseabirds.com {{Taxonbar, from=Q1139106 Auks Synthliboramphus Birds of Mexico Birds described in 1866 Murrelets