Abstract
The Long-billed Murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix) is one of the rarest and most poorly understood alcids in Asia. First described by Pallas in 1811 as Cepphus perdix (the Partridge Murrelet), their solitary nesting at inland sites in remote areas of eastern Siberia and northern Japan has limited studies of their habitat preferences and population status. Because of this paucity of information, we were concerned whether viable populations would continue to persist in the southern portion of its breeding range in the face of a variety of conservation issues. Therefore, we compiled historical and recent at-sea and inland records of Long-billed Murrelets in Japan during the breeding and winter seasons. We also conducted inland, from-shore and at-sea surveys in northeastern Hokkaido between 1996 and 2001. Few murrelets were recorded during these surveys and based on historic information, murrelets may have been extirpated from some areas where they may have bred historically (e. g., northern Honshu and eastern Hokkaido). We discuss the conservation problems, including gill-net fishing, logging of mature forests in coastal regions, oil pollution, and predation, that may have led to its extirpation from some areas of Japan during the breeding season.
