Marbled Murrelet
(Brachyramphus marmoratus)

Overview

Summary

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Marbled Murrelets nest in old growth forests of the Pacific coast, from Alaska to California. Because nests are difficult to locate and the birds are secretive, solitary nesters, little historic data are available to describe changes in the abundance of birds breeding in Canada. Surveys at sea and surveys of birds near shore in winter suggest that the Canadian population may have exhibited a large decrease in abundance since about 1970. This decrease led the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada to assess the species as Threatened in 2000; re-examined and confirmed in 2012 (COSEWIC 2013f). Loss of coastal forest to logging remains the single greatest threat to this species. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Marbled Murrelets typically nest in old growth coastal forest (Naslund et al. 1995), and loss of this habitat to logging is considered the greatest threat to the species in Canada (COSEWIC 2013f). In some portions of the range, increasing abundance of Common Ravens and other nest predators have reduced nesting success (Peery and Henry 2010). Chronic and accidental oil pollution and mortality from entanglement in inshore gillnets are also significant threats (Nelson 1997). Increased threats from proposed shipping routes in the core of the species' range were identified in COSEWIC 2013f. For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to view available recovery documents, see the SARA Registry.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Beissinger, S.R. 1995. Population trends of the Marbled Murrelet projected from demographic analyses. pp. 385-394 in: Ecology and conservation of the Marbled Murrelet. Ralph, C.J., G.L. Hunt Jr., M.G. Raphael and J.F. Piatt, Eds. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PSW-152. Albany, CA, USA. Beissinger, S.R. 1995. Population trends of the Marbled Murrelet projected from demographic analyses. pp. 385-394 in: Ecology and conservation of the Marbled Murrelet. Ralph, C.J., G.L. Hunt Jr., M.G. Raphael and J.F. Piatt, Eds. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PSW-152. Albany, CA, USA. (Link)
• Bertram, D.F., C.A. Macdonald, P.D. O’Hara, J. Cragg, M. Janssen, M.McAdie, and W.S. Boyd. 2015. Marbled Murrelet movements and marine habitat use during breeding on the ‘Northern Gateway’ approach to Kitimat, B.C. Pacific Seabird Group Annual Meeting 19 Feb 2015, San Jose, California (Oral presentation by D.F. Bertram).
• COSEWIC. 2013f. COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. xii + 82 pp. COSEWIC. 2013f. COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. xii + 82 pp. (Link)
• Kelson, J.D., I.A. Manley and H.R. Carter. 1995. Decline of the Marbled Murrelet in Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia: 1982-1993. pp. 90-98 in: Biology of the Marbled Murrelet: Inland and at sea. Nelson, S.K. and S.G. Sealy, Eds. Northwestern Naturalist 76:1-119. Kelson, J.D., I.A. Manley and H.R. Carter. 1995. Decline of the Marbled Murrelet in Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia: 1982-1993. pp. 90-98 in: Biology of the Marbled Murrelet: Inland and at sea. Nelson, S.K. and S.G. Sealy, Eds. Northwestern Naturalist 76:1-119. (Link)
• Naslund, N.L., K.J. Kuletz, M.B. Cody and D.K. Marks. 1995. Tree and habitat characteristics and reproductive success at Marbled Murrelet tree nests in Alaska. pp. 12-25 in: Biology of the Marbled Murrelet: Inland and at sea. Nelson, S.K. and S.G. Sealy, Eds. Northwestern Naturalist 76:1-119. Naslund, N.L., K.J. Kuletz, M.B. Cody and D.K. Marks. 1995. Tree and habitat characteristics and reproductive success at Marbled Murrelet tree nests in Alaska. pp. 12-25 in: Biology of the Marbled Murrelet: Inland and at sea. Nelson, S.K. and S.G. Sealy, Eds. Northwestern Naturalist 76:1-119. (Link)
• Nelson, S.K. 1997. Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus). The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Nelson, S.K. 1997. Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus). The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• Peery, M.Z. and R.W. Henry. 2010. Recovering marbled murrelets via corvid management: A population viability analysis approach. Biological Conservation 143:2414-2424.