Status of the Common Murre on National Wildlife Refuges off the Pacific Coast of Washington

December 10, 2020, 7:00 pm, Speaker Program

Sue Thomas, Wildlife Biologist, USFWS Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex

Between 1979-1995, the abundance of the Common Murre (Uria aalge) nesting in colonies along the outer coast of Washington declined by over 13% per year from 31,500 to as low as 530 birds. Our goal was to evaluate trends and changes in distribution on USFWS National Wildlife Refuge islands that support the majority of murre colonies from 1996–2015. Overall, abundance increased by over 8% per year primarily due to expansion of northern colonies. Yet, abundance remains lower than levels observed in the late 1970’s mainly because southern colonies, where murres were historically most abundant, are inactive or minimally so. Partners in Oregon and California have recently noted similar trends as well as shifts in distribution of this species. As a result, we have begun to coordinate monitoring efforts throughout the California Current System to better track distribution and trends over the larger scale. This is essential given uncertainties about long-term effects of a changing ocean ecosystem and predation pressure on murre trends. I will present current efforts to meet conservation & management challenges as well as more recent data collected in Washington.

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