Ancient Murrelet

Fascinating facts about the Ancient Murrelet

• A bird that can fly 8,000 km (5,000 mi) from Canada to winter near Japan and China is the only known species to cross the whole North Pacific, showing how ancient murrelets keep a genetic tie to their Asian origins. This epic trek proves migration isn’t always about climate comfort, but about ancestral routes.
• When ancient murrelet chicks leave the nest, they are whisked away to sea just 1–3 days after hatching and may travel up to 30 mi (48 km) away from land, spending more than twelve hours at sea before the parents start feeding them. Their fleeting time on land makes them the bird that spends the least time ashore, highlighting a survival strategy that avoids predators.
• In the 1800s, rats introduced by ships cut the breeding pairs on one island from 200,000 to about 14,000, a dramatic collapse that illustrates how invasive mammals can reshape seabird populations in a single century.
• A 2007 survey off the Olympic Peninsula recorded unprecedented numbers of ancient murrelet chicks, strongly implying that the region now supports local breeding, a rare glimpse of a species expanding its nesting range in modern times.
• Measuring just 7.9–9.4 in (20–24 cm) long with a 17.7–18.1 in (45–46 cm) wingspan and weighing 5.4–8.8 oz (150–250 g), this small auk banks side-to-side more than its relatives and beats its wings fast, a flight style that helps it cover vast ocean distances despite its tiny size.

At a glance

About the Ancient Murrelet

The ancient murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus) is a diminutive auk distinguished by its black head, throat and rear neck, a grey-backed mantle that gives the impression of an elderly shawl, and crisp white underparts. A short, stubby yellow bill and a small rounded black tail complete its sleek profile, while summer adults sport striking white streaks across the crown that reinforce its “ancient” moniker. Measuring just 20–24 cm in length with a 45–46 cm wingspan, these birds bank side-to-side in flight and beat their wings rapidly, a maneuverability born of their compact wings. They inhabit the north-Pacific fringe, breeding from the Yellow Sea islands off China through the Russian Pacific coast, the Aleutian chain, and into Canada’s Haida Gwaii, where roughly half the world’s population nests. After hatching in burrows beneath forest soil or rock crevices, the chicks are whisked to sea within days, never to be fed again on land, and the family can spend up to twelve hours at sea, traveling as far as 48 km before the fledglings are sustained exclusively by their parents’ offshore foraging. Their diet, still poorly understood, shifts with the seasons, crustaceans dominate winter meals, while summer sees a mix of small fish and crustaceans, with Haida Gwaii studies indicating a reliance on tiny mesopelagic fish. A truly remarkable quirk sets the ancient murrelet apart: it alone among birds traverses the entire North Pacific, a 8,000-kilometre migration from Canada to winter near Japan and China, then returns in February, a journey that mirrors its genetic origins in Asia and underscores a deep-seated tie to its ancestral homeland.

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