What Do Marbled Murrelets Eat

Marbled murrelets are now endangered because so much of the old growth forests they need to raise their young have been cut down.

What do marbled murrelets eat.

They dive quickly opening the wings to fly underwater steering with both wings and feet in rapid pursuit of prey. The old growth forest that s left is often in parks where the presence of people and their food has attracted huge numbers of jays and ravens which eat marbled murrelet eggs and chicks. Marbled murrelets are small seabirds that weighs about 200 grams. Marbled murrelets eat mostly small fish and zooplankton which they capture underwater with the bill usually not far from land.

In the winter they are black with white underparts and in the summer they are brown with mottled white and brown on their throat chest and abdomen. They do not form dense colonies. The real victim of this phenomenon is the marbled murrelet a federally threatened seabird whose eggs are a food source for steller s jays the marbled murrelet nests in old growth forest in california oregon and washington. A seabird that s also a forest bird the marbled murrelet fishes along the foggy pacific coast then flies inland to nest in mossy old growth trees.

They dive for food using their wings to propel them underwater. Murrelets feed in the pacific ocean and salish sea sometimes venturing far from shore in search of herring anchovies smelt sandlance eels and other small forage fish. Unlike most other seabirds marbled murrelets are solitary. Marbled murrelets are long lived seabirds that spend most of their life in the marine environment but use old growth forests for nesting.

Murrelets typically conduct short dives of 30 seconds. Throughout their range marbled murrelets are opportunistic feeders and utilize prey of diverse sizes and species. Marbled murrelets are frequently seen in pairs in all seasons suggesting that they mate for life. Marbled murrelets eat small fish primarily herring capelin and sandlance in our area.

Mottled in milk chocolate brown during the summer adults change into stark black and white for winter. Its habit of nesting in trees was suspected but not documented until a tree climber found a chick in 1974 making it one of the last north american bird species to have its nest. It nests in old growth forests or on the ground at higher latitudes where trees cannot grow. In british columbia schools of juvenile pacific sandlance and herring are an important.

Due to loss of old growth forests many of the remaining california dwelling murrelets nest in protected state parks areas with an abundance of campgrounds. Dives generally last less than a minute and are fairly shallow. The marbled murrelet brachyramphus marmoratus is a small seabird from the north pacific it is a member of the auk family. These stocky little birds dive for zooplankton and fish using their wings to fly underwater.

While no definitive study has determined their diving range a similar species the cassin s auklet dives to 150 feet. Murrelets require old mature forest habitat for their nests. Courtship foraging loafing molting and preening occur in near shore marine waters.