Japanese Murrelet

Synthliboramphus wumizusume (Temminck, 1836)

24–26 cmLength43 cmWingspan198 gWeight

It has a black crest in summer that disappears in winter.

Most records: Japan, South Korea, China

Looks like Ancient Murrelet

Vulnerable

How to identify

Field marks

Long black crest in summer, absent in winter
White stripes above the eyes meet on the nape
Black and blue-gray upperparts; white throat and belly
Short, thick blue-gray bill

Male, female and young

Juveniles resemble adults in winter but have a browner head and upperparts.

Voice

Soft “ch-ch-chi-chi” calls; also gives “peee-p-p-p” in flight.

Similar species

Ancient Murrelet

Japanese Murrelet has a black crest 3–5 cm long in summer, distinguishing it from Ancient Murrelet; the crest disappears in winter.

Where and when it's recorded

Japanese Murrelet has been recorded at 7 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 3 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.

Countries and regions with the most records

Japan South Korea China

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

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 as Sakhalin 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, and the most at risk of extinction.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Japanese Murrelet?

The Japanese Murrelet is about 24–26 cm long, with a wingspan of 43 cm and weighs around 198 g.

Where does the Japanese Murrelet live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: western North Pacific coasts: islands off western Honshu, Kyushu and Izu Islands (central, southern Japan), south of Korean Peninsula and ?far southeastern Russia. It is most often recorded in Japan, South Korea and China.

Is the Japanese Murrelet endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Japanese Murrelet as Vulnerable.

What does the Japanese Murrelet eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Japanese Murrelet in?

It belongs to the family Auks (Alcidae), order Charadriiformes.

At a glance

Length: 24–26 cm
Wingspan: 43 cm
Weight: 198 g
Habitat: Ocean
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: On the water surface
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Vulnerable

More measurements

Wing: 120 mm
Tail: 50 mm
Bill: 23 mm
Tarsus: 24 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic: western North Pacific coasts: islands off western Honshu, Kyushu and Izu Islands (central, southern Japan), south of Korean Peninsula and ?far southeastern Russia

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2