Marbled Murrelet Threatened

A unique and threatened seabird.

Marbled murrelet threatened.

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. Hence protection of such habitat is essential to the conservation of the species. White the marbled murrelet can be distinguished by its white throat and a horizontal white strip above the folded wing. U s fws species profile about species listing status federal register publications recovery critical habitat conservation planning petitions and life history.

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

The canadian population was declared nationally threatened in 1990. Throughout much of their range they fly inland for nesting in older forests. The marbled murrelet is a small robin sized diving seabird that feeds primarily on fish and invertebrates in near shore marine waters. 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.

Marbled murrelets spend most of their lives in marine waters and forage at sea on small fish and invertebrates. They avoid fragmented and partially developed forest landscapes and are declining rapidly in washington and listed as a state endangered species. The marbled murrelet is listed as a federal threatened and state endangered species wac 220 610 010 in washington endangered means any wildlife species native to the state that is seriously threatened with extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range within the state. Fws s threatened endangered species system track information about listed species in the united states.

Forested areas with conditions that are capable of supporting nesting marbled murrelets are referred to as suitable nesting habitat loss of such nesting habitat was the primary basis for listing the marbled murrelet as threatened.