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Volume 51, No. 2

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Reproductive indices of Common Murres Uria aalge and Marbled Murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus indicate murrelets are more resilient during poor years


Authors

CRAIG S. STRONG1 & ADAM DUARTE2
1Crescent Coastal Research, 260 Hazeltime Road, Crescent City, California, 95531, USA (strongcraig1@gmail.com)
2USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Olympia, Washington, 98512, USA (adam.duarte@usda.gov)

Citation

STRONG, C.S. & DUARTE, A. 2023. Reproductive indices of Common Murres Uria aalge and Marbled Murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus indicate murrelets are more resilient during poor years. Marine Ornithology 51: 187 - 194

Received 07 September 2022, accepted 10 April 2003

Date Published: 2023/10/15
Date Online: 2023/08/03
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Key words: Common Murre, Uria aalge, Marbled Murrelet, Brachyramphus marmoratus, ENSO, California Current, seabird productivity, marine climate

Abstract

Fledgling encounter rates at sea were used as measures of annual reproductive performance for Common Murres Uria aalge and Marbled Murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus over 29 years in two marine biogeographic regions off the coast of Oregon, USA, north and south of Cape Blanco. In both bioregions, the adult murre population was much larger and the encounter rate of murre fledglings was much higher than for murrelets overall, but the apparent decline in productivity during El Niño events and years of poor foraging was significantly greater in murres than in murrelets. We conclude that murrelets are better at coping with variations in food availability as a function of ocean conditions. Different foraging strategies and body sizes may explain the differential success rates during years of low prey availability.

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Volumes > 38 (2010-->)

Volumes 28-37 (2000-09)

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