Xantus's murrelet  (Synthliboramphus hypoleucus)

One of the most significant threats to this Vulnerable bird is the impact of invasive mammals, including feral cats, black rats and house mice, which prey on the eggs, young, and occasionally adults of Xantus's murrelet (4) (8) (9). The extinction of some breeding colonies in the past as a result of invasive mammals demonstrates the devastating affect that they can have on this species (4).

In addition to the threats of invasive species, Xantus's murrelet could be affected by oil spills, drowning in fishing gear, pollution, and disturbance of nesting sites (4). In the future, changes in sea temperature caused by global climate change may also have a detrimental impact on this species if it alters the availability of prey, such as the northern anchovy (4).

Since the mid-1990s, introduced mammalian predators have been removed from several of the murrelet's nesting islands (8) (10), such as the eradication of black rats from Anacapa Island, California, with Xantus's murrelet showing encouraging signs of recovery as a result (11). In 2003, fishing was banned within certain areas of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, which may help reduce noise and light pollution around breeding colonies. Guadalupe Island of Mexico has recently been declared a Biosphere Reserve and the other Mexican islands on which Xantus's murrelet nests are situated either within existing biosphere reserves or in a proposed new biosphere reserve. These measures should hopefully mitigate the negative impacts related to commercial fisheries and tourism (4). In 2005, a special symposium titled “Biology and Conservation of the Xantus's Murrelet” was held, with the aim of increasing awareness of the plight of this species, and to promote the publication of recent findings on its biology and status (10). Such efforts are very encouraging for this threatened seabird, but future conservation actions are still required, including continued efforts to remove the threat of introduced mammals from further critical breeding islands (4) (8).