BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF THE COMMON MURRE 63 



documented at Triangle Island and near Ucluelet but 

 not at Solander or Graham Islands. 



Triangle Island has been consistently identified as 

 the main murre colony in British Columbia (Brooks 

 and Swarth 1925; Drent and Guiguet 1961; Rodway 

 1991 ). Breeding was documented as early as 1900 and 

 has been recorded on all subsequent ornithological 

 expeditions to the island (Kermode 1904; Guiguet 1950; 

 Carl et al. 1 95 1 ; Drent and Guiguet 1 96 1 ; Vermeer et al. 

 1976b; Rodway et al. 1990b; Parrish 1997). A weather 

 station and lighthouse were abandoned in 1921 (Beebe 

 1960). Between 24 June and 1 July 1949, murre breeding 

 was well documented during a collecting trip by the 

 British Columbia Provincial Museum (now Royal 

 British Columbia Museum [RBCM]; Guiguet 1950; 

 Carl et al. 1951; Drent and Guiguet 1961). Drent and 

 Guiguet (1961) reported 19 eggs collected, although 

 26 eggs are currently preserved in collections at the 

 RBCM (numbers El 149, E2025-E2038, E228-E229) 

 and the UBCZM (numbers 787-795). One adult male 

 also was "taken off egg" by C. J. Guiguet on 28 June 

 1949 (RBCM number 9853). In addition, colony size 

 was estimated to be about 1 .500 breeding pairs, but egg 

 laying had just commenced (Drent and Guiguet 1961). 

 C. J. Guiguet (unpublished field notes) provides 

 additional details: "Several (7) large roosting colonies 

 observed - each containing several hundreds of birds 



- nesting sites visited on edge of high cliffs north side 



- all nests at altitude 525 feet [ 160 m] - grassy tussocks 

 at edge of sheer drop - eggs only - fresh. Majority of 

 birds apparently haven't laid as yet in areas visited. 

 Total population using island - several thousands." 



Several trips were made by the RBCM and British 

 Columbia Ecological Reserves to Triangle Island in 

 the 1 960s and early 1 970s but few details on murres are 

 available. On 18 and 24 August 1966, small 

 "two-day-old" chicks were collected (RBCM number 

 11642). On 24 August 1966, a larger chick (RBCM 

 11645) and an adult (RBCM number 11677) were 

 collected. On 11 August 1974, "many small young" 

 were noted and one egg was collected at Triangle Island 

 (R. W. Campbell, unpublished data; RBCM number 

 E 1 1 30). During seabird studies by the Canadian Wildlife 

 Service, Vermeer et al. (1976a) conducted a complete 

 count of 5,934 murres attending Triangle Island (i.e., 

 5,384 on Puffin Rock and 550 on Castle Rock) on 29 

 July 1976. In 1977, lower attendance (about 3,000 birds) 

 was noted when almost total breeding failure occurred 

 for murres and tufted puffins Fratercula cirrhata 

 (Vermeer etal. 1979). 



Breeding was confirmed at Sartine Island, near 

 Triangle Island (Figure 2. 15), where 236 and 600 murres 



were observed on ledges in 1 968 and 1 975, respectively 

 (Hancock 1 97 1 ; Vermeer et al. 1 976a). Earlier breeding 

 had not been reported in 1 950 at Sartine Island or, to the 

 east, at Beresford, Cox, and Lanz Islands (Carl et al. 

 1951). Mink (Mustela vision) and raccoon (Procyon 

 lotor) were introduced to Cox and Lanz Islands in 1938- 

 39 and extirpated nesting Cassin's auklets 

 (Ptychoramphus aleuticus; Carl et al. 1951; Beebe 

 1960; Drent and Guiguet 1961; Rodway et al. 1990b). 

 Mammalian predators are not present at Sartine and 

 Beresford Islands, which support large populations of 

 burrow-nesting storm-petrels and alcids, but little 

 breeding habitat for murres exists (see Appendix I: 

 Figure 1-43; Rodway et al. 1990b). 



Early, unsubstantiated records of breeding murres 

 along the central west coast of Vancouver Island 

 (Kermode 1904; Brooks and Swarth 1925; Tavemer 

 1928) were not accepted in major historical summaries 

 (Munro and Cowan 1947: Drent and Guiguet 1961), 

 but these warrant reconsideration in light of subsequent, 

 confirmed breeding at Cleland Island, Florencia Islet, 

 and Starlight Reef. At Cleland Island, breeding was 

 confirmed between 1969 and 1982 (i.e., 1969-70, 1973- 

 77, 1979, 1982, and 1983), but not in 1967 (Campbell 

 and Stirling 1968; Campbell 1976; Campbell et al. 

 1975. 1990; British Columbia Nest Records Scheme 

 [BCNRS], see Myers et al. 1957; H. R. Carter and S. G. 

 Sealy, unpublished data; see Appendix I: Figure 1-39). 

 Between 2 and 150 murres were reported between 1969 

 and 1982, but only 1 to 8 breeding pairs laid eggs. 

 When last noted, in 1983, only three murres were seen 

 that may not have been breeding (G. Kaiser, unpublished 

 data). 



One and two pairs bred on Starlight Reef in 1975 

 and 1980, respectively (Hatler et al. 1978; BCNRS). 

 One unsuccessful breeding attempt by a single pair was 

 recorded at Florencia Islet in 1969 (Campbell et al. 1975; 

 Hatler et al. 1978), but no murres bred there in 1970, 

 1974, or 1979 (Campbell et al. 1975; BCNRS; H. R. 

 Carter and S. G. Sealy, unpublished data). A series of 

 observations at White Islet (between Florencia Islet and 

 Cleland Island) between 1968 and 1970 suggested that 

 1-2 pairs may have attempted to lay eggs but breeding 

 was not confirmed (R. W. Campbell, unpublished data). 

 On 30 July 1968, 30 murres were noted near shore and 

 two adults were seen in potential nesting habitats, but 

 no eggs or chicks were noted after landing. On 4 August 



1969, two adults were again seen in the same location 

 on the rock but no eggs or chicks were found. No murres 

 were noted on 28 June 1970, but one adult was again 

 seen on land in potential breeding habitat on 25 August 



1970. Murres were not noted to attend White Islet on 



