Marbled murrelets are long lived seabirds that spend most of their life in the marine environment but use old growth forests for nesting.
Marbled murrelets biome.
A strange mysterious little seabird.
Even where numerous it is usually seen on the water in pairs or aggregations of pairs not in large flocks.
In the pacific northwest now known to nest high in trees in old growth forest several miles inland from coast.
It is a member of the auk family.
These plants only grow in moist forests usually where winter rains are plentiful and fog is common.
It has a dark brown to black dorsum and a white venter and throat.
Throughout their range marbled murrelets are opportunistic feeders and utilize prey of diverse sizes and species.
Courtship foraging loafing molting and preening occur in near shore marine waters.
Epiphytic moss is important for marbled murrelets nesting.
Although it is fairly common off the northern pacific coast its nesting behavior was essentially unknown until the 1970s.
The nonbreeding plumage includes a strip of white between the back and the wing thus the name marbled.
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 described.
The marbled murrelet brachyramphus marmoratus is a small seabird from the north pacific.
The marbled murrelet is a very small chubby sea bird that seems to lack a neck.
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.