Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

Even the largest ancient murrelets are fewer than 10 inches (25 cm) from beak to tail, and the diminutive wingspan of this small auk species means the bird must fly with comically fast wing beats in order to remain aloft. But when this bird dives into the cold waters of the North Pacific, it uses those same modest wings to expertly “fly” below the surface, where it feeds on krill and small schooling fish. But it’s not the ancient murrelet’s underwater aptitude that most wows me.

This bird, of all the world’s bird species, is believed to spend the least amount of time on land and it’s the only bird that rears its young entirely at sea. How it does so is remarkable. Ancient murrelets nest in island colonies of up to 10,000 birds off Japan, Russia, Canada, the United States. The parents excavate burrows in slopes or among tree roots (occasionally, they’ll use rocky crevices), where the female then lays 1-2 eggs and both the male and female take turns on incubation duty. The off-duty parent heads offshore to feed, but leaves before dawn and returns just after dark, presumably to minimize the chance of the burrow being discovered and targeted by predators.

The young, once hatched, are not fed in the burrow. Instead, 1-3 days after hatching, the parents depart and, Pied Piper-like, begin calling to the chicks. The down-covered fluff balls of white and grey bumble their way from the burrow in pursuit of their parents’ voices. Eventually, the chicks reach the ocean, where their parents wait in the surf. Reunited, the family heads well offshore (as far as 30 miles/48 km). Once there, the parents will remain with the chicks for at least 1 month, feeding them on the ocean’s surface.

Next time you hear a public figure proclaim,  “I was born ready!,” think of the ancient murrelet, a creature that actually was. 

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.