BREEDING OF THE GUADALUPE MURRELET IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Abstract

 After having been observed regularly at Seal Cove, San Clemente Island, California, since 1994, the Guadalupe Murrelet (Synthliboramphus hypoleucus) was confirmed nesting successfully in an artificial nest on a rocky ledge above the cove in 2022. The incubating adults’ identity and the two chicks’ departure from the nest were confirmed by a trail camera. Another Guadalupe Murrelet nest at Santa Barbara Island in 2021 was only the second confirmed there. Though the populations of the Guadalupe Murrelet at San Clemente and Santa Barbara islands are apparently small, they are important in representing the only confirmed sites of the species’ nesting away from Guadalupe and the San Benito islands.