Abundance and Distribution of Marbled and Kittlitz's Murrelets in Southcentral and Southeast

• Published in: The Condor (Los Angeles, Calif.) Vol. 100; no. 2; pp. 254 - 265
• Main Authors: Agler, Beverly A., Kendall, Steven J., Irons, David B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cooper Ornithological Society 01-05-1998
• Subjects: Agroecology; Birds; Boats; Environmental conservation; Inlets; Population estimates; Sea birds; Straits; Summer; Winter
• ISSN: 0010-5422; 1938-5129
• DOI: 10.2307/1370266

We used small boats to survey Marbled, Brachyramphus marmoratus, and Kittlitz's Murrelets, B. brevirostris (Brachyramphus murrelets) in Lower Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and Southeast Alaska. We estimated (± 95% CI) that there were 58,227 ± 16,058 (4.2 birds km-2) murrelets in Lower Cook Inlet in summer and 11,627 ± 7,410 (3.1 birds km-2) murrelets in the eastern half during winter. We estimated a mean of 113,652 ± 25,900 (12.7 birds km-2) murrelets in Prince William Sound in four summers and a mean of 24,979 ± 11,710 (2.8 birds km-2) murrelets in four winters. An estimated 687,061 ± 201,162 (19.4 birds km-2) murrelets were in Southeast Alaska in summer 1994. The summer population of all three areas was estimated to be between 655,482 and 1,062,398 murrelets. Winter abundance for the eastern portion of Lower Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound ranged from 22,646 to 50,164. Brachyramphus murrelets were distributed in low densities throughout each of the three study areas, although abundance was not uniform; there were areas of high densities within each study area. The largest densities were found in Southeast Alaska.