Synthliboramphus craveri
The Craveri's Murrelet (Synthliboramphus craveri) is a small, sleek seabird belonging to the family Alcidae, closely related to other murrelets like the Scripps's and Guadalupe Murrelets, with which it shares several unique life history traits. Measuring approximately 24-25 cm (9.4-9.8 inches) in length and weighing 150-180 g (5.3-6.3 oz), it exhibits a distinctive dark slate-gray to brownish-black plumage on its upperparts, sharply contrasting with clean white underparts. Key identification ...
This pelagic seabird primarily inhabits offshore marine environments, utilizing remote, rocky islands for its breeding colonies and foraging in productive coastal waters.
Their diet consists mainly of small schooling fish, such as anchovies, sardines, and larval fish, supplemented by small crustaceans like krill and euphausiids, all captured through agile pursuit diving.
Craveri's Murrelets display remarkable behavioral adaptations, notably their strictly nocturnal activity at breeding colonies to evade diurnal predators like gulls and raptors, returning to their nests after dusk and departing before dawn. At sea, they are diurnal, foraging by pursuit diving, usi...
The breeding range of the Craveri's Murrelet is restricted to numerous islands within the Gulf of California and along the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico, including key sites like Isla Raza, Isla San Jorge, Islas San Benito, and Isla Natividad. After breeding, these murrelets disperse, ...
Vulnerable
- Craveri's Murrelets are one of the most precocial bird species; their chicks leave the nest and head to sea with parents just 1-2 days after hatching, making an impressive swimming journey. - They are strictly nocturnal at their breeding colonies, arriving and departing under the cover of darkn...