Marbled Murrelet Threatened

Fish and wildlife service due to concerns about loss of nesting habitat entanglement in fishing gear and oil spills.

Marbled murrelet threatened.

The marbled murrelet is a small robin sized diving seabird that feeds primarily on fish and invertebrates in near shore marine waters. Threatened the marbled murrelet is federally listed under the endangered species act as a threatened species in washington oregon and california and state listed as endangered in california and as threatened in oregon and washington critical habitat is designated for the species and a new proposal for critical habitat is available for review. It spends the majority of its time on the ocean restingoosting and feeding but comes inland up to 80 kilometers 50 miles to nest in forest stands with old growth forest characteristics. The marbled murrelet populations in washington oregon and california were listed as threatened in 1992 by the u s.

The canadian population was declared nationally threatened in 1990. Fws s threatened endangered species system track information about listed species in the united states. Throughout much of their range they fly inland for nesting in older forests. Marbled murrelets spend most of their lives in marine waters and forage at sea on small fish and invertebrates.

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. They avoid fragmented and partially developed forest landscapes and are declining rapidly in washington and listed as a state endangered species. U s fws species profile about species listing status federal register publications recovery critical habitat conservation planning petitions and life history. When airborne the stubby wings of the murrelet beat very rapidly the canadian population was designated threatened by cosewic in 1990.

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. Marbled murrelets brachyramphus marmoratus are small seabirds that nest in old growth forests and feed in the pacific ocean murrelets need large areas of coastal and near coastal old growth forest for nesting. A unique and threatened seabird. The marbled murrelet was listed as threatened under the federal endangered species act in 1992 and threatened under the oregon endangered species act in 1995.

Hence protection of such habitat is essential to the conservation of the species.