Endangered
Xantus’s murrelet
Synthliboramphus hypoleucus
The Guadalupe murrelet or Xantus's murrelet is a small seabird found in the California Current system in the Pacific Ocean.
Appearance
Enough evidence was collected to consider both species distinct based on a lack of evidence of interbreeding where the two species nest together on the San Benito Islands, differences in facial pattern and bill shape, vocalizations and genetics.
Range and habitat
It breeds from Guadalupe Island south to the San Benito Islands. The Guadalupe murrelet or Xantus's murrelet is a small seabird found in the California Current system in the Pacific Ocean. This auk breeds on islands off California and Mexico.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
Like all auks it is a wing-propelled diver, chasing down prey under the water with powerful wingbeats. There is some speculation that it may feed cooperatively in pairs, as it is almost always observed in pairs, even during the non-breeding season.
Like other synthliboramphine murrelets (e.g. 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. It is threatened by predators introduced to its breeding colonies and by oil spills.
In crisis
By the end of the 20th century, the Xantus's murrelet complex was considered to be among the most endangered group of auk. Guadalupe murrelet is mainly threatened by oil spills, as much of its population lives near the busy shipping lanes connecting Los Angeles to other ports. Because a large part of its small population nests in such a small area a single catastrophic oil spill could have far reaching implications.
It is also threatened by introduced species such as rats and feral cats. This threat has been lessened lately by efforts to restore its habitat by removing introduced predators.
Xantus’s murrelet is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Xantus’s murrelet, Wikidata item Q1276043. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
