Taxon:
Brachyramphus marmoratus

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Scientific Name
Brachyramphus marmoratus
Common Name
Marbled Murrelet
Taxa Group
Alcidae
Environment
Move Mode

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Subject: Brachyramphus marmoratus ×

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Data package
    Data from: Study "Marbled Murrelets at Desolation Sound, British Columbia, Canada (1998-2001)"
    (2022-10-26) Cooke, Fred; Lank, David B.; Bradley, Russell W.; Parker, Nadine R.; Lougheed, Cecilia; Lougheed, Lynn W.; McFarlane Tranquila, Laura A.; Pastran, Sonya A.; Greene, Randall; Vincent, Paola; Bertram, Douglas F.
    The Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus is a threatened seabird that relies on old-growth forest for nesting. We compare marine space use between breeding and non-breeding birds, and how marine home range locations and overlap vary with respect to nesting location and breeding status. We collected very high frequency (VHF) radio-telemetry data in southern British Columbia from Clayoquot Sound (190 birds; 2000-2002) and Desolation Sound (206 birds; 1998-2001). The sites differ strongly in their oceanic exposure and surrounding terrestrial features. Kernel utilization distribution-based estimates showed that breeders and non-breeders had similar overall distributions, but breeders were more spatially aggregated. Pooled home ranges of non-breeders were larger than those of breeders, but the distributions of individual home range sizes did not differ significantly by breeding status. However, compared with non-breeders, breeding murrelets were more likely to share their home range with other breeders. Home range sizes were larger and commuting distances were longer at Desolation Sound than at Clayoquot Sound; the average home range size for individuals was 241 ± 6.7 km2 at Clayoquot Sound and 330 ± 8.8 km2 at Desolation Sound. Individuals that nested closer together were more likely to share their marine home range in Desolation Sound, but not at Clayoquot Sound. Commuting distance to a nest site was not related to home range size at either site. Our results support the hypothesis that, at a local scale, breeding murrelets congregate at specific foraging areas and are not strongly constrained by commuting distance to nesting locations. Our results also support the concept that home range size may be indicative of the overall habitat quality of an area. We quantify connectivity between terrestrial and marine habitats and highlight important historical foraging locations.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Data package
    Data from: Study "Marbled Murrelets at Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada (2000-2002)"
    (2022-10-26) Cooke, Fred; Lank, David B.; Bradley, Russell W.; Parker, Nadine R.; Lougheed, Cecilia; Lougheed, Lynn W.; McFarlane Tranquila, Laura A.; Pastran, Sonya A.; Greene, Randall; Vincent, Paola; Bertram, Douglas F.
    The Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus is a threatened seabird that relies on old-growth forest for nesting. We compare marine space use between breeding and non-breeding birds, and how marine home range locations and overlap vary with respect to nesting location and breeding status. We collected very high frequency (VHF) radio-telemetry data in southern British Columbia from Clayoquot Sound (190 birds; 2000-2002) and Desolation Sound (206 birds; 1998-2001). The sites differ strongly in their oceanic exposure and surrounding terrestrial features. Kernel utilization distribution-based estimates showed that breeders and non-breeders had similar overall distributions, but breeders were more spatially aggregated. Pooled home ranges of non-breeders were larger than those of breeders, but the distributions of individual home range sizes did not differ significantly by breeding status. However, compared with non-breeders, breeding murrelets were more likely to share their home range with other breeders. Home range sizes were larger and commuting distances were longer at Desolation Sound than at Clayoquot Sound; the average home range size for individuals was 241 ± 6.7 km2 at Clayoquot Sound and 330 ± 8.8 km2 at Desolation Sound. Individuals that nested closer together were more likely to share their marine home range in Desolation Sound, but not at Clayoquot Sound. Commuting distance to a nest site was not related to home range size at either site. Our results support the hypothesis that, at a local scale, breeding murrelets congregate at specific foraging areas and are not strongly constrained by commuting distance to nesting locations. Our results also support the concept that home range size may be indicative of the overall habitat quality of an area. We quantify connectivity between terrestrial and marine habitats and highlight important historical foraging locations.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Data package
    Data from: Study "Marbled Murrelet satellite tracking data from British Columbia, Canada 2014-2016"
    (2022-11-15) Bertram, Douglas F.; Janssen, Michael H.; Cragg, Jenna L.; Macdonald, Christie A.; McAdie, Malcolm; Wilson, Amy; Woo, Kerry; Gross, Eric; Maftei, Mark; O'Hara, Patrick D.; Davis, Shanti E.; Greene, Randall; Vincent, Paola
    Knowledge of patterns of seasonal movements are required to inform examinations of the distribution and abundance of marine birds to support conservation efforts. We deployed solar satellite transmitters to track the movements of Threatened Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) during the breeding and post breeding periods. We tagged birds in British Columbia, Canada, over three years (2014-2016, n=27), from three different Marbled Murrelet conservation regions defined by the species Recovery Strategy. The tags revealed some local movements of birds during the breeding season but transmissions were limited for the majority of deployments. The tags were most useful in revealing long distance of movements of birds following reproductive attempts. In all three years birds from B.C. moved to Alaska in the post breeding period. In 2014, a murrelet from the Northern Mainland Coast conservation region (Kitimat) travelled to waters near Kodiak Island in August. In 2015, a bird from the South Mainland Coast conservation region (Desolation Sound) travelled to Glacier Bay in July, a known hotspot for Brachyramphus murrelets in summer. In 2016, a bird from the West and Northern Vancouver Island conservation region (Clayoquot Sound) moved to the Alaskan panhandle, reaching the Alexander Archipelago in early August. Our study coincided with the largest Marine Heat Wave recored in the North East Pacific. Birds appeared to track cold water, likely seeking forage fish prey to fuel prebasic molt. Historical and ongoing time series counts of murrelets in Alaska show swelling of numbers in July and August, consistent with the timing of arrival of BC birds, and suggests that our results reflect an annual molt migration dispersal pattern which is not unique to our study period. The arrival of BC birds in Alaska also coincides with the timing of salmon gill net fisheries and thus presents entanglement mortality risk to murrelets in areas of known overlap, such as Kodiak Island. Our tracking work demonstrates strong connectivity between Alaskan and Canadian populations.