Volume 50, No. 2
Volumes > 38 (2010-->)
- Volume 52, No. 2, 2024
- Volume 52, No. 1, 2024
- Volume 51, No. 2, 2023
- Volume 51, No. 1, 2023
- Volume 50, No. 2, 2022
- Volume 50, No. 1, 2022
- Volume 49, No. 2, 2021
- Volume 49, No. 1, 2021
- Volume 48, No. 2, 2020
- Volume 48, No. 1, 2020
- Volume 47, No. 2, 2019
- Volume 47, No. 1, 2019
- Volume 46, No. 2, 2018
- Volume 46, No. 1, 2018
- Volume 45, No. 2, 2017
- Volume 45, No. 1, 2017
- Volume 44, No. 2, 2016
- Volume 44, No. 1, 2016
- Volume 43, No. 2, 2015
- Volume 43, No. 1, 2015
- Volume 42, No. 2, 2014
- Volume 42, No. 1, 2014
- Volume 41, No. 2, 2013
- Volume 41, No. 1, 2013
- Volume 41, Special Issue, 2013
- Volume 40, No. 2, 2012
- Volume 40, No. 1, 2012
- Volume 39, No. 2, 2011
- Volume 39, No. 1, 2011
- Volume 38, No. 2, 2010
- Volume 38, No. 1, 2010
Volumes 28-37 (2000-09)
- Volume 37, No. 3, 2009
- Volume 37, No. 2, 2009
- Volume 37, No. 1, 2009
- Volume 36, No. 2, 2008
- Volume 36, No. 1, 2008
- Volume 35, No. 2, 2007
- Volume 35, No. 1, 2007
- Volume 34, No. 2, 2006
- Volume 34, No. 1, 2006
- Volume 33, No. 2, 2005
- Volume 33, No. 1, 2005
- Volume 32, No. 2, 2004
- Volume 32, No. 1, 2004
- Volume 31, No. 2, 2003
- Volume 31, No. 1, 2003
- Volume 30, No. 2, 2002
- Volume 30, No. 1, 2002
- Volume 29, No. 2, 2001
- Volume 29, No. 1, 2001
- Volume 28, No. 2, 2000
- Volume 28, No. 1, 2000
Volumes 18-27 (1990-99)
- Volume 27, No. 1 & 2, 1999
- Volume 26, No. 1 & 2, 1998
- Volume 24, No. 1 & 2, 1996
- Volume 25, No. 1 & 2, 1997
- Volume 23, No. 2, 1995
- Volume 23, No. 1, 1995
- Volume 22, No. 2, 1994
- Volume 22, No. 1, 1994
- Volume 21, No. 1 & 2, 1993
- Volume 20, No. 1 & 2, 1992
- Volume 19, No. 1, 1991
- Volume 18, No. 1 & 2, 1990
Volumes 5-17 (1978-89) a.k.a 'Cormorant'
- Volume 17, No. 1 & 2, 1989
- Volume 16, No. 1, 1988
- Volume 16, No. 2, 1988
- Volume 15, No. 1 & 2, 1987
- Volume 14, No. 1 & 2, 1987
- Volume 13, No. 2, 1986
- Volume 13, No. 1, 1986
- Volume 12, No. 2, 1985
- Volume 12, No. 1, 1985
- Volume 11, No. 1 & 2, 1984
- Volume 10, No. 2, 1983
- Volume 10, No. 1, 1983
- Volume 9, No. 2, 1982
- Volume 9, No. 1, 1982
- Volume 8, No. 2, 1981
- Volume 8, No. 1, 1981
- Volume 7, 1980
- Volume 5, 1978
Search by author or title:
Melanism in a Common Murre Uria aalge in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Citation
SCHOEN, S.K., ARIMITSU, M.L., MARSTELLER, C.E. & HEFLIN, B.M. 2022. Melanism in a Common Murre Uria aalge in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
Marine Ornithology 50: 225
- 227
http://doi.org/10.5038/2074-1235.50.2.1493
Received 17 August 2022, accepted 02 September 2022
Date Published: 2022/10/15
Date Online: 2022/09/22
Key words: Common Murre, Uria aalge, melanism, Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Abstract
In accord with melanism being uncommon in birds, we could find only six published records of completely melanistic Common Murres Uria aalge, one of the most widely and intensively studied of all seabirds. We added to the record by observing a Common Murre in completely dark, melanistic alternate plumage every summer from 2017 to 2021 at Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, USA. In 2017, the bird frequented the colony periphery, indicating that it could have been a subadult. Subsequently, it occupied the same narrow rock ledge within the colony every summer from 2018 to 2021, an indication that it may have been attempting to breed. Because we have been conducting long-term monitoring on Gull Island, we are in the unique position to be able to monitor the attendance and reproductive performance of this distinctively marked murre into the future.
References
AINLEY, D.G., NETTLESHIP, D.N. & STOREY, A.E. 2021. Common Murre (Uria aalge), version 2.0. In: BILLERMAN, S.M., RODEWALD, P.G. & KEENEY, B.K. (Eds.) Birds of the World. New York, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bow.commur.02
ARIMITSU, M.L., SCHOEN, S.K., PIATT, J.F., MARSTELLER, C.E. & DREW, G.S. 2021. Monitoring the Recovery of Seabirds and Forage Fish Following a Major Ecosystem Disruption in Lower Cook Inlet. OCS Study BOEM 2021-031. Anchorage, USA: Alaska Science Center, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
BOND, A.L. & DIAMOND, A.W. 2016. Aberrant colouration in the Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), the Common Murre (Uria aalge), and the Thick-billed Murre (U. lomvia) from Atlantic Canada. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 130: 140-145.
CLARKE, W.J. 1913. Notes for 1912 from Yorkshire. British Birds 6: 345.
FINGER, J.V.G., AVER, G.F., KOCH, N.M. & PETRY, M.V. 2017. A rare melanistic Chinstrap Penguin Pygoscelis antarcticus at Penguin Island, Maritime Antarctica. Polar Biology 40: 1919-1921.
GROSS, A.O. 1965. Melanism in North American birds. Bird-Banding 36: 240-242.
LEVINSON, P.M., SCHMIDT, A.E., MORANDINI, V., ELROD, M., JONGSOMJIT, D. & BALLARD, G. 2021. Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica. Antarctic Science 33: 335-343. doi:10.1017/S0954102021000158
LOOMIS, L.M. 1918. Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences to the Galapagos Islands, 1905-1906. No. XII: A review of the albatrosses, petrels, and diving petrels. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series 2, part 2: 1-187.
PIATT, J.F., PARRISH, J.K., RENNER, H.M. ET AL. 2020. Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of Common Murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016. PLoS One 15: e0226087.
PYLE, P. 2013. Dark-faced Common Murres off central California in fall and winter. Western Birds 44: 250-261.
SCHOEN, S.K., ARIMITSU, M.L., MARSTELLER, C.E. & PIATT, J.F. 2022. Lingering impacts of the 2014-2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave on seabird demographics in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series. In press.
STORER, R.W. 1952. A comparison of variation, behavior and evolution in the sea bird genera Uria and Cepphus. University of California Publications in Zoology 52: 121-222.
VAN GROUW, H.J. 2021. What's in a name? Nomenclature for colour aberrations in birds reviewed. British Ornithologists' Club 141: 276-299.
VAN GROUW, H.J., RUSSELL, S. & MERNE, O.J. 2011. Notes on colour aberrations in Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) and Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus). Seabird 24: 33-41.