Scripps's Murrelet
Synthliboramphus scrippsi

Conservation status | Total population probably low. Vulnerable to predators, even small ones, on nesting islands; in one study, almost half of all eggs were destroyed by deer mice. Accidental introduction of rats could devastate colonies. |
---|---|
Family | Auks, Murres, Puffins |
Habitat | Ocean, islands. Generally in relatively warm waters and well offshore. May be close to nesting islands but almost never close to mainland; may go far out beyond continental shelf. Nests on islands with steep cliffs, rocky slopes, dense cover of bushes. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Forages by diving and swimming underwater, propelled by wings. Pairs or family groups may forage together.
Eggs
2, rarely 1. Large for size of bird, pale blue to dull green, with few or many brown spots, sometimes solid brown. Incubation is by both sexes, 27-44 days.
Young
Parents do not feed young in nest. 1-2 nights after hatching, downy young are led from nest by parents, who then fly away; young make way to water, often jumping from cliffs more than 200’ down to surf. Parents and young reunite in water and swim away from island. Young remain with parents and are fed by them for lengthy period. 1 brood per year, but may lay a 2nd clutch if first clutch is lost.
Diet
Poorly known. Probably eats mostly small crustaceans and other marine invertebrates. Thought not to be much of a fish eater.
Nesting
Breeds on islands in small colonies. Birds typically have same mate and same nest site each year. Nest site is in rock crevice, under dense bush, under debris, or in abandoned burrow of other species; no nest built
Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Download Our Bird Guide App
Migration
. A few are present off southern California all year, but common mainly March through June. Numbers drop sharply in mid-summer, with many of these birds evidently going north (at least to central California). Whereabouts in winter poorly known. Probably does much of migration by swimming, not flying.

- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
See a fully interactive migration map for over 450 bird species on the Bird Migration Explorer.
Learn more