Xantus's Murrelet (Synthliboramphus hypoleucus) is a small seabird found in the California Current system in the Pacific Ocean. This auk breeds on islands off California and Mexico. It is threatened by predators introduced to its breeding colonies and by oil spills.
The species is named for the Hungarian ornithologist John Xantus de Vesey who described it from specimens collected off Baja California.
This species is a small black and white auk wi...
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Xantus's Murrelet (Synthliboramphus hypoleucus) is a small seabird found in the California Current system in the Pacific Ocean. This auk breeds on islands off California and Mexico. It is threatened by predators introduced to its breeding colonies and by oil spills.
The species is named for the Hungarian ornithologist John Xantus de Vesey who described it from specimens collected off Baja California.
This species is a small black and white auk with a small head and thin sharp bill. It resembles the closely related Craveri's Murrelet, with which it shares the distinction of being the most southerly living of all the auk species. It breeds on islands in the Channel Islands of California, the largest colonies being on the Coronado Islands and on Santa Barbara Island, and also several islands off Baja California, including Isla Guadalupe. After the breeding season it disperses north at sea, usually to offshore waters, as far as British Columbia.
Xantus's Murrelet feeds far out at sea,...
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