Marbled Murrelet Range

Marbled murrelets are seabirds that forage in marine waters but nest in forests.

Marbled murrelet range.

T he breeding range of the marbled murrelet extends from bristol bay alaska south to the aleutian archipelago northeast to cook inlet kodiak island kenai peninsula and prince william sound south coastally throughout the alexander archipelago of alaska and through british columbia washington oregon to northern monterey bay in central california. Marbled murrelets are coastal birds that occur mainly near saltwater within 1 2 miles 2 km of shore. Puget sound conservation zone 1 western washington coast range conservation zone 2 oregon coast range conservation zone 3 siskiyou coast range conservation zone 4 mendocino conservation zone 5 and santa cruz mountains conservation zone 6 figure 1. Strategically important areas for conservation are identified below.

The marbled murrelet usually nests in trees 200 years old or older. 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. Slightly darker cap and blotchy pale belly. Breeding plumage is dark brown with few contrasting marks.

Version access protocol arcsde connection. The geographic centre of the species range is in southeast alaska and alaska and canada are home to the largest numbers of birds. Marbled murrelets occur along 4 000 kilometers of coastline extending from california to alaska. Mottled in milk chocolate brown during the summer adults change into stark black and white for winter.

Note black cap that extends below the eye a white. Because they rely on old growth trees for. Nonbreeding birds are sharply patterned black white and gray. However marbled murrelets have been found up to 59 miles 95 km inland in washington 35 miles 56 km inland in oregon 22 miles 37 km inland in northern california and 11 miles 18 km inland in central california.

Name marbled murrelet range cwhr b240 ds930 size 1 455 location server. The 1997 recovery plan for the marbled murrelet usfws 1997 identified six conservation zones throughout the listed range of the species. These stocky little birds dive for zooplankton and fish using their wings to fly underwater. Though the marbled murrelet was first described in 1789 its nest remained undiscovered until 1974.

In washington marbled murrelets nest in mature and old growth conifer forests and sometimes in comparatively younger forests with residual old growth trees. No other north american member of the auk family alcidae nests in trees. Small seabird that breeds in old growth evergreen forests sometimes far from the coast. Often in small flocks on coastal waters where it dives underwater searching for fish.