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; the status was re-examined and confirmed in 2012 (COSEWIC 2013f). The species was listed under the Species at Risk Act in 2012. 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.
Marbled Murrelets typically nest in old growth coastal forest (Naslund et al. 1995), so loss and fragmentation 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). Entanglement in inshore gillnets has also been a significant threat (Nelson 1997). With increasing interest in shipping, and oil and gas development along the coast of British Columbia, through the core of the species' range, the risks of chronic or catastrophic oil pollution are of increasing conservation concern (e.g., Environment Canada 2014e). 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.
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:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
