What Do Marbled Murrelets

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.

What do marbled murrelets.

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. Courtship foraging loafing molting and preening occur in near shore marine waters. Rarely seen by humans they. Even where numerous it is usually seen on the water in pairs or aggregations of pairs not in large flocks.

The close association of the marbled murrelet and old growth coastal forests and the science and conservation work done make the murrelets truly an iconic bird in redwood national and state parks. A strange mysterious little seabird. Mottled in milk chocolate brown during the summer adults change into stark black and white for winter. Marbled murrelets have a naturally low reproductive rate because they lay only one egg per nest and not all adults nest every year.

Peak activity occurs from mid june to late july in california and the second week of july to mid august in oregon. The marbled murrelet brachyramphus marmoratus is a small pacific seabird listed as threatened under the endangered species act in california oregon and washington. The primary cause of marbled murrelet population decline is the loss and modification of nesting habitat in old growth and mature forests through commercial timber harvests human induced fires. Unlike most other seabirds marbled murrelets are solitary.

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. Marbled murrelets make tree nests on large moss and lichen covered branches high usually over 40 feet above the ground in mature and old growth coniferous forest normally in the largest tree in the area. In the pacific northwest now known to nest high in trees in old growth forest several miles inland from coast. Although it is fairly common off the northern pacific coast its nesting behavior was essentially unknown until the 1970s.

Marbled murrelets do not breed until they are at least two years old. And about that arcane nickname even though scientists didn t know that marbled murrelets lived up in the old redwood trees before the early 1970s. 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. Throughout their range marbled murrelets are opportunistic feeders and utilize prey of diverse sizes and species.

Because they rely on old growth trees for. These stocky little birds dive for zooplankton and fish using their wings to fly underwater. Less commonly they make ground nests in a depression in a rocky talus slope boulder field or similar area sometimes on moss matted. They do not form dense colonies.

Marbled murrelets are semicolonial in nesting habits.