SPECIMEN RECORD OF A LONG-BILLED MURRELET FROM EASTERN WASHINGTON, WITH NOTES ON PLUMAGE AND MORPHOMETRIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LONG-BILLED AND MARBLED MURRELETS CHRISTOPER W. THOMPSON, WashingtonDepartment of Fish and Wildlife, 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., Mill Creek, Washington98012, and Burke Museum,Box 353100, Universityof Washington,Seattle, Washington 98195 KEVIN J. PULLEN, ConnerMuseum, Washington State University, Pullman, Wash- ington 99164 RICHARD E. JOHNSON, Conner Museumand School of BiologicalSciences, WashingtonState University,Pullman, Washington 99164 ERICB. CUMMINS, WashingtonDepartment of Fishand Wildlife, 600 CapitolWay North, Olympia,Washington 98501 ABSTRACT:On 14 August2001, RobertDice found a Brachyramphusmurrelet approximately12 mileseast of Pomeroyin easternWashington state more than 200 milesfrom the nearestmarine waters. The bird died later that day. It had begun definitiveprebasic body molt, but not flightfeather molt. Necropsy indicated that the birdwas a female,probably in her secondcalendar year. Johnson and Thompson identifiedthe birdas a Long-billedMurrelet, Brachyramphus perdix, on the basisof plumageand measurements;it is the firstspecimen of thisspecies for Washington state. Contrary to many recent publicationsstating that Long-billedand Marbled Murreletshave white and brownunder wing coverts, respectively, we confirmedthat bothspecies typically have white under wing coverts prior to definitiveprebasic molt andbrown under wing coverts after this molt. Absence of anyextensive storm systems in the North Pacificin the dayspreceding 14 Augustsuggest that the specimen discussedhere became disoriented during postbreeding migration rather than having been blown inland by easterlywinds. At approximately1100 PST on 14 August2001, RobertDice, an upland wildliferestoration biologist with WashingtonState Department of Fishand Wildlife,found a moribundrobin-sized brownish bird on a ruralcounty road approximately12 mileswest of Pomeroy,Garfield County, eastern Wash- ington.The locationis near the borderof Idaho, approximately210 and 270 milesfrom the nearestpoint in PugetSound and the PacificOcean, respectively.The bird was apparentlyheat-stressed because the ambient temperaturewas 90-95 ø F. Dice took the bird to the home of a localresident and tried to resuscitateit, but it died at about 1600 that afternoon. The bird was taken to WashingtonState Universityin Pullman,where Johnson tentativelyidentified it as a Long-billedMurrelet, Brachyramphus perdix. Pullenprepared the specimen(KJP 4328) as a roundstudy skin with an associatedextended wing (Spaw 1989, Winker 2000) and sent it to Thompsonto confirmits identity. IDENTIFICATION OF THE SPECIMEN The specimenwas a femalewith a matureovary (13 x 6 mm)and slightly enlargedova (2 mm),indicating the birdwas at leastone year old. The bird's WesternBirds 34:157-168, 2003 157 LONG-BILLED MURRELET FROM EASTERN WASHINGTON plumage further corroboratesthis conclusion:its ventral feathers were broadlyedged with brown,giving the breastand bellya scallopedor mottled appearance, typical of adult Long-billed and Marbled Murrelets, Brachyramphusmarmoratus, in first and definitivealternate plumage (Thompsonunpubl. data). In contrast,the breastand bellyof both of these speciesare finely flecked with brown in juvenalplumage in theirfirst summer and fall, are completelywhite in first basicplumage except for a small percentageof birdsthat retain some juvenal breast and belly plumage in their first winter and subsequentspring, and are alwayscompletely white in definitivebasic plumage (Thompson unpubl. data). In addition,the birdwas in the earlystages of definitiveprebasic body molt (e.g., lesserand median wing coverts)but had not yet begunflight-feather molt. Long-billedMurrelets have billsabout 15% to 30% longer,on average, than thoseof MarbledMurrelets (Table 1); as a result,Sealy et al. (1991) suggestedthat birdswith billsexceeding 18 mm canreliably be identifiedas the Long-billed.Long-billed Murrelets also are generallylarger in overall bodysize than Marbled Murrelets, as reflectedby a varietyof standardbody measurements(Table 1). Table 1 Measurementsof an Adult Female Long-billedMurrelet from EasternWashington in Relation to Those of Adult Female Marbled and Long-billedMurrelets a Specimenfrom Long-billed Measurement MarbledMurrelet easternWashington Murrelet Exposedculmen 17.4 + 0.9, 108b 19.6 21.2 + 0.7, 5c Billdepth 5.7 + 0.3, 107b 6.2 6.6 + 0.1, 5c Tarsuslength 16.9 + 0.6, 107• 19.1 18.3 + 0.3, 5c Wing (flattened) Adults" 124.1 + 3.5, 45 a.e 142.9 + 4.7, 5c Juvenalf 115.6 + 4.4, 10a 132 131.0 + 2.8, 2• Tail length "Adults" 31.7 + 1.6, 7f. • 35.9 + 1.5, 5h Juvenal• 30.9 + 0.7, 5• 31 31,--, 1• øAllmeasurements in millimeters.Data presentedas mean + standarddeviation, n. bDatafrom "adultfemales" in BritishColumbia (Sealy 1975). ½Data from Califomia Academy of Sciences68017, Hoffman and Woolfenden (1988), and Sealyet al. (1991). a Data from specimensin Universityof WashingtonBurke Museum, University of California Museumof VertebrateZoology and CalifomiaAcademy of Sciences. e Data from probableadult females, i.e., specimensexhibiting evidence of breeding(brood patch, enlargedovaries and/or oviduct)and/or with no bursaof Fabricius;these birds have likely replacedtheir juvenalprimaries at leastonce. fDatafrom females with discemible retained juvenal plumage. These birds have not replaced their juvenalprimaries. • Data from specimensin Universityof WashingtonBurke Museum. hDatafrom Stejneger (1886), Hoffman and Woolfenden (1988), Sealy et al. (1991:U.S. National Museum599498), and Universityof WashingtonBurke Museum 44434 and 44435. 158 LONG-BILLED MURRELET FROM EASTERN WASHINGTON Similarly,many plumagecharacters also have been argued to be reliable indicatorsof one speciesor the other in alternateplumage. It has been claimedthat in alternate plumage Long-billedMurrelets have (1) more pronouncedwhite crescentsor arcs immediatelyabove, and especially below,the eye than do MarbledMurrelets (Stejneger 1886, Ridgway1919, Jehl and Jehl 1981, Harrison 1983, Sibley 1993, Piatt et al. 1994, Konyukhovand Kitaysky 1995), (2) entirelydark plumage above their gape, whereasMarbled Murrelets often have a palestripe above their gape (Sibley 1993, Konyukhovand Kitaysky1995), and (3) a completelydark maxilla, whereas the maxilla of Marbled Murrelets is always partially white (Konyukhovand Kitaysky 1995). Lethaby's(2000) subsequentevaluation of theseplumage differences, however, found them to be unreliable. Two additionalcharacters, wing liningand outer rectrixcolor, also have been suggestedas consistentdifferences between the Long-billedand MarbledMurrelets. The winglining (underwing coverts) of MarbledMurrelets usuallyhas been described as dark, e.g., "duskybrown" to "smokybrownish black"(Coues 1868), "clearash" (Barrows 1877), "smokygray" (Baird et al. 1884), "grayishbrown" to "duskygray" (Stejneger1886), and "uniform fuscous"(Ridgway 1919). In contrast,National Geographic's Field Guide to the Birds of North America (4th ed., 2002), Gastonand Jones (1998: plate 8), and Sibley (2000) illustratethe under wing covertsof Long-billed Murreletsas beingextensively white. Similarly,Lethaby (2000) notedthat most(13 of 15) Long-billedMurrelets in alternateplumage that he examined had "obviouspale feathering on the underwing coverts" and concluded that "presenceof extensivepale in the underwing coverts is strongly supportive, but not diagnostic (italics his), for alternate-plumagedLong-billed Murrelets." However,Lethaby's tentative conclusion is incorrect.Indeed, many au- thorshave previously noted that Long-billed Murrelets have wing linings that are brownishor vary in colorfrom whiteto brown.Specifically, Dement'ev andGladkov (1951) statedthat the winglining of adultLong-bfiled Murrelets is "grayish"or "gray-brown."Sealy et al. (1991) publisheda ventralphoto of a Long-billedMurrelet specimen with its wingspartially outstretched that clearlyshows dark underwing coverts.Oka (1999) describedtwo of three Long-billedMurrelets that he assumedwere adultsas having"brown" and "darkbrown" under wing coverts.In contrastto theseprevious descriptions of underwing-covertcolor in the Long-billedMurrelet, Shibaev (1990) noted that thesecoverts may varyfrom "solidlybrownish-gray" to almostwhite. Lethaby(2000) alsonoted that 2 of 15 Long-billedMurrelets he examined had "all-dark"under wing coverts. This apparent discrepancyhas arisen becausein both the Marbledand Long-billedMurrelets the color of the underwingcoverts is an indicatorof age. In the Long-billedMurrelet this variationwas recognizedmore than a centuryago by Taczanowski(1893), who statedthat the underwing coverts of adultsare "gray-brown,"whereas those of second-yearbirds are "white with a little brown";Dement'ev and Gladkov(1951) subsequentlynoted Taczanowski'sfindings. Kozlova (1957) alsostated that underwingcoverts of adultsare "brownish-gray"whereas those of birdsin juvenalplumage are "brownishgray with somewhite." 159 LONG-BILLED MURRELET FROM EASTERN WASHINGTON Regardingthe MarbledMurrelet, Coues(1868:64) notedthat the under- wingcoverts of birdsin juvenaland first basic plumage vary from being dark as in adults(e.g., USNM 46547) to being"dusky along the edgeof the wing, but...elsewherevariegated with dull whitish"(e.g., USNM 46542). Nelson (1997) also noted that underwingcoverts of birdsin juvenalplumage are "brownishgray with somewhite," whereas those of birdsin definitivebasic and definitivealternate plumage are "uniformfuscous" and "uniformgray brown,"respectively.