Synthliboramphus antiquus
Status: Accidental in fall.
Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM14801, 27 Oct 1929 Burt Co (Swenk 1933).
Taxonomy: Two subspecies are recognized: antiquus over most of the range, and microrhynchos restricted to the Russian Commander Islands (AviList 2025).
The validity of microrhynchos has been questioned based on extensive gene flow throughout the species’ range (Gaston and Shoji 2020).
The identity of the Nebraska specimen is undetermined; the subspecies are only separable in breeding plumage (Gaston and Shoji 2020).
Record: The only record is a mounted specimen collected 27 Oct 1929 along the Missouri River eight kilometers (five miles) east of Tekamah in Burt Co by Max Salsman; it is an immature bird (Swenk 1933).
Comments: There are 11 records of Ancient Murrelet from states neighboring Nebraska (South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Iowa), all during Oct-Dec (eBird.org, accessed Oct 2023).
There are about eight records of Long-billed Murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix) Jul-Dec in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and Iowa (eBird.org, accessed Oct 2023).
Feldstein (fide Mlodinow: COBIRDS 3 November 2012) found that the majority of mid-fall to mid-winter records for Long-billed and Ancient Murrelets have been associated with storms that occurred within two to three days of each record off the east coast of Asia between Japan and the Kamchatka Peninsula and then moved inland from the Gulf of Alaska. The easternmost inland US records are associated with more northerly storms (Gaton and Shoji 2020).
Images
Abbreviations
UNSM: University of Nebraska State Museum
Acknowledgement
Photograph (top) by Joel G. Jorgensen of an Ancient Murrelet specimen (UNSM ZM14801) collected in Burt Co 27 Oct 1929. The specimen is housed and maintained at the University of Nebraska State Museum and was legally salvaged or collected. We thank Thomas Labedz for facilitating the photographing of this specimen for the Birds of Nebraska – Online.
Literature Cited
AviList Core Team, 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025.
Gaston, A.J., and A. Shoji. 2020. Ancient Murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ancmur.01.
Swenk, M.H. 1933. The Ancient Murrelet wanders to Nebraska. NBR 1: 14-15.
Recommended Citation:
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2025. Ancient Murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 11 Jul 2025