- Japanese Murrelet
Taxobox
name = Japanese Murrelet
status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1
trend = down
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo =Charadriiformes
familia =Alcidae
genus = "Synthliboramphus "
species = "S. wumizusume"
binomial = "Synthliboramphus wumizusume"
binomial_authority = Temminck, 1836The Japanese Murrelet, "Synthliboramphus wumizusume" also known as Crested Murrelet is a small bird that inhabits rocky islets and reefs in the warm waters ofJapan ,Russia andSouth Korea . It has black and bluish grey upper body and white underparts plumage.Breeding sites are crevices, burrows and hollows in rocks, the gaps in piles of stones, and among grasses on uninhabited islands. The northern limit of the breeding sites are the
Nanatsujima Islands of Japan, while the most important breeding sites areBiro Island and theIzu Islands .The Japanese Murrelet lays eggs in March. Clutch size is slightly less than two eggs. Incubation duty was shared almost equally by both parents. The chicks are not fed in the nest, but leave the nest one to two nights after hatching.
In 1975, this species was designated a natural treasure by Japanese government. Habitat disturbance due to increasing sport fishing activities, predation by
crow s, largegull s andrat s among others, gives the Japanese Murrelet its Vulnerable status onIUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I ofCITES and legally protected in Japan.References
* Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is vulnerable and the criteria used
External links
* ARKive - [http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/birds/Synthliboramphus_wumizusume/ images of the Japanese Murrelet "(Synthliboramphus wumizusume)"]
* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3314&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
* [http://www.redlist.org/search/details.php?species=21261 IUCN Red List]
* [http://www.rdb.or.id/detailbird.php?id=193 Red Data Book]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.