Brachyramphus perdix breeds in Japan through the Sea of Okhotsk to the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia. It was split from Marbled Murrelet B. marmoratus (which breeds in California to the Aleutian Islands) in 1996¹. The population is estimated to number in the tens of thousands². In Japan, it is rare in eastern Hokkaido, but commoner on the Sea of Okhotsk coast, especially near the Shiretoko peninsula. There are few areas in Russia where the species is considered common: the lower Amur River area, particularly between Baydukov island and Aleksandra bay; near Magadan along the Khmitievsky peninsula, Tauyskaya bay, and the Koni peninsula; and on the Kamchatka peninsula. It appears to be uncommon in the Primorye region and on Sakhalin island (where its distribution is patchy), and it is rare on the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk.