>Does anyone know the status of the asiatic form of the Marbled Murrelet
>(Brachramphus marmoratus perdix) in Washington state? With the recent
>report of one individual in Ohio, a belated report on the Washington
>state birdbox, and a possible report from Victoria, I'm curious as to
>what other records exist for this form, including time of year, locality,
>etc.
>
>* Alan J. Knue

There are at least two records supported by photographs. One was
photographed by Jeff Skriletz in August 1993 near Lopez Island; this record
will be published in Washington Birds. Oddly, it was in breeding plumage
and traveling with a regulation Marbled Murrelet. Another, in nonbreeding
plumage, was photographed at Edmonds last November independently by Robert
Howson and Kevin Aanerud. Robert saw "a similar bird" with his, but Kevin
saw only one, so I think it's unlikely that it was paired, as members of
pairs stay together all the time.

It will surely be split from the Marbled Murrelet as a distinct species. I
think it may be called Long-billed Murrelet, although the AOU Check-list
Committee has yet to make that decision, and it's not "officially" split
until they have published it as such, which won't be for another 1-2 years.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416
web site: http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html