Murre Birds Emerged After a Century Away

Researchers United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Park Service found the nests of  murre seabirds in the Channel Islands, California. This finding is surprising. Understandably, this bird was last seen in 1912.

The babies bird was named California Common Murre (Uria aalge californica). Foot-ball-sized seabird is a member of the Auk family (Alcidae) with a black body and white like a penguin.

These animals have special abilities. Like penguins, murre birds use their wings to "fly" to explore the ocean depths. However, slightly different from the penguins, murre can use their wings to fly through the air.

According to historical records, murre birds nesting on Prince Island, a small island outside of San Miguel Island in the Channel Island National Park. Colonies of these birds disappeared almost a century ago, allegedly due to human disturbance and exploitation of eggs.

In the State of California, bird species are abundant, from the central region to the north. A total of tens to hundreds of thousands of birds nesting on the Farailon Island and Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge.

Smaller colonies are found in southern California, precisely in the small islands along the coast of Big Sur. And now, these birds are  back to Prince Island.

"This exciting finding. One of the historic," said Josh Adams, seabird ecologist from the USGS. According to Adams, the emergence of murre birds seem to rebuild where they used to live in the south. These animals take advantage of the current ocean conditions.

"Conditions in the Santa Barbara Channel was productive last decade," said Adams. "Although many factors that influence the spread and recovery of a population," he said. *** [LIVESCIENCE | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 3743]