Long-billed Murrelet

Brachyramphus perdix (Pallas, 1811)

≈25 cmLength43 cmWingspan220 gWeight

This small, stocky auk has a long, slender black bill and nests on branches in old forest.

Busiest months: December · Most records: United States, Japan, South Korea

Near Threatened

How to identify

Field marks

Long, slender black bill
White eye-ring
Winter plumage has white underparts and black crown, nape, wings and back
Breeding plumage mainly brown, with pale feather edges giving a scaled appearance

Where and when it's recorded

Long-billed Murrelet has been recorded at 16 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 4 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

St. Paul IslandUnited States14 records
Sandy HookUnited States14 records
Point No PointUnited States10 records

More places

Stewart ParkUnited States6 records
Nemuro – Cape NosappuJapan5 records
Goseong – Daejin HarborSouth Korea4 records
Hamanaka – Cape KiritappuJapan4 records
Honeymoon Island SPUnited States2 records
The Three-island WatersChina2 records
Edmonds WaterfrontUnited States1 record

Countries and regions with the most records

United States 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 long-billed murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix) is a small seabird from the North Pacific. The genus name Brachyramphus is from Ancient Greek brakhus, "short", and rhamphos, "bill". The species name perdix is Latin for "partridge" Pallas described this auk as Magnitudine Perdicis.

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

Questions

How big is the Long-billed Murrelet?

The Long-billed Murrelet is about ≈25 cm long, with a wingspan of 43 cm and weighs around 220 g.

Where does the Long-billed Murrelet live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: coastal strip of temperate western North Pacific: Kamchatka, Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin (eastern Russia) and northern Hokkaido (northern Japan); nests up to 30 km inland. It is most often recorded in United States, Japan and South Korea.

When is the best time to see the Long-billed Murrelet?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in December (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Long-billed Murrelet endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Long-billed Murrelet as Near Threatened.

What does the Long-billed Murrelet eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Long-billed Murrelet in?

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

At a glance

Length: ≈25 cm
Wingspan: 43 cm
Weight: 220 g
Habitat: Ocean
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: On the water surface
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Near Threatened

More measurements

Wing: 135 mm
Tail: 32 mm
Bill: 31 mm
Tarsus: 17 mm

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

Range

Palearctic: coastal strip of temperate western North Pacific: Kamchatka, Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin (eastern Russia) and northern Hokkaido (northern Japan); nests up to 30 km inland

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2