BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF THE COMMON MURRE 1 07 



Although Sugarloaf Rock (near False Cape and 

 Steamboat Rocks) has suitable breeding habitat, murres 

 have been noted there only once and have not been 

 recorded breeding there. Briggs et al. (1983) reported 

 334 birds at the rock in July 1981, but none during 

 other May and July surveys in 1980-82. I did not, 

 therefore, consider these birds to be breeding, but birds 

 at this colony may have abandoned without any 

 documentation of earlier breeding. 



Mendocino County Colonies 



Murres had not been reported breeding in 

 Mendocino and Sonoma Counties before 1979 when 

 breeding was first reported at Cape Vizcaino (Sowls et 

 al. 1980). Osbome and Reynolds (1971) did not note 

 any murres there in 1969-70 although other nesting 

 species were recorded at many rocks and islands. 

 Osborne's surveys may have been conducted too late in 

 the season to detect the Cape Vizcaino colony. 



Murres may have bred at sites throughout 

 Mendocino and Sonoma Counties in the past but been 

 extirpated by early settlers since 1 850 (Lorentzen 1995). 

 This area was colonized rapidly during and after the 

 Gold Rush when many small coastal logging 

 communities sprung up along the coast. Most of the 

 islands along this coast are small, close to shore, and 

 easily accessible by small boat. Accessible colonies 

 probably would have been egged heavily during the 

 early years of colonization by U. S. settlers when food 

 was scarce. In addition, native peoples in canoes also 

 may have adversely affected murre colonies before and 

 during U. S. settlement. There is little documentation of 

 egging in this area. In the first week of June 1 900, 

 however, 24 murre eggs obtained by fishermen from 

 somewhere along the "Mendocino coast" were bought 

 in the San Francisco market by L. Kessing for D. A. 

 Cohen. The labels of seven specimens in the WFVZ 

 give this information (WFVZ Nos. 1 17,680-1 17,685). 

 However, murre eggs also were obtained for L. Kessing 

 on unidentified rocks in Humboldt County in July 1900 

 (see Trinidad Complex above). Thus, it is possible that 

 an incorrect general location was applied to these 24 

 eggs. 



If murres did breed along the Mendocino coast, 

 their colonies probably were adversely affected by the 

 construction of log chutes, piers, and wharves. This area 

 has no large natural harbors and chutes were built for 

 loading logs onto ships from coastal bluffs. Often, the 

 ocean end of a chute or pier was built on small offshore 

 rocks located close to shore at several points along the 

 coast (Sullenberger 1980: Hendrickson 1994). One of 

 the largest wharfs was at Cottaneva (or Rockport) where 



the first suspension bridge on the West Coast was 

 constructed in 1 877. The bridge extended over 92 m 

 (275 feet) of ocean onto several offshore rocks, the largest 

 of which was called "Sea Lion Rock" (Mendocino 

 Historical Research, Inc. 1978; Lorentzen 1995; Cook 

 and Hawk 1999). These rocks were cut down to form a 

 flat surface for bridge construction and for storing 

 lumber. In 1 888, the wharf was rebuilt and fortified in 

 the same location. The mill closed for 10 years during 

 the Great Depression (about 1928-38). during which 

 time the bridge fell down. The mill reopened in 1938 

 and a skyline was built between the mainland and the 

 rock. The skyline was used for a short period to load 

 boats before the switch to hauling lumber by truck. The 

 mill burned in 1942 (Lorentzen 1995; Cook and Hawk 

 1999). Since 1989. these rocks (now called Rockport 

 Rocks) have been used for breeding by murres (Carter 

 et al. 1992), despite the cement supports that are still 

 visible on the rocks. It is likely that murres were forced 

 off these rocks when the wharf was built. Other colonies 

 probably were similarly affected by wharfs and chutes. 

 Murres breeding near Fort Ross or other areas farther 

 north also would have been heavily egged by the 

 resident Russians in the early nineteenth century, based 

 on their activities at the Farallon Islands (see above). 

 Unfortunately, the coasts of Sonoma and Mendocino 

 Counties were visited little by early ornithologists and 

 breeding seabirds were poorly recorded and poorly 

 known. In 1997. murres were confirmed breeding at three 

 other colonies along the Mendocino coast (see Chapter 

 2 text). 



