Marbled Murrelet

       Picture this, a monogamous pair of Marbled Murrelet’s just spent several years out at sea and on this special day they traveled over 70 kilometers of ocean and land to the temperate forests of Washington State. Flying into an old-growth forest that has been there for centuries, is now completely gone. They glance over at the secondary forest nearby but this habitat doesn’t work. The young branches of the Douglas fir tree are not broad or tall enough to hold a variety of epiphytes that could protect their single egg from predators. The couple flies onward, in search of a suitable home to raise their chick. This scenario has potentially happened to several Marbled Murrelet’s. Logging and development are the major causes of this unique species numbers to drop, placing it in the endangered category.

Marbled Murrelet's, Brachyramphus marmoratus, spend most of their lives out at sea but when it's time to nest, the pair heads into the woods in search of that perfect place to lay a single egg.They are small birds, roughly the size of a robin and a challenge to research in the large trees of old-growth forests therefore most research takes place at the ocean. For a sound recording and/or video of this bird visit Cornell's wonderful Lab of Ornithology website at http://macaulaylibrary.org/index.do.


Photo courtesy of: San Fransisco State University