Marbled Murrelet Nest

The marbled murrelet brachyramphus marmoratus is a small seabird from the north pacific. Marbled murrelets make tree nests on large moss and lichen covered branches high usually over 40 feet above the ground in mature and old growth coniferous forest normally in the largest tree in the area. Despite their seaside lifestyle marbled murrelets travel up to fifty miles inland to nest hundreds of feet in the air in old growth forests.

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No other north american member of the auk family alcidae nests in trees.

Marbled murrelet nest.

Though the marbled murrelet was first described in 1789 its nest remained undiscovered until 1974. They locate their nest in a depression on a mat of moss lichen or debris accumulations on large branches. With the discovery of a murrelet nest in a tree a major evolutionary leap in seabird biology was revealed. In washington marbled murrelets nest in mature and old growth conifer forests and sometimes in comparatively younger forests with residual old growth trees.

The sexually mature adult murrelet at age 2 or 3 of an average 15 year lifespan generally lays a single egg on a mossy limb of an old growth conifer tree. Murrelets generally nest in solitude although multiple nests sometimes occur within a small area. Incubation lasts about 30 days and chicks fledge after about 28 days after hatching. Marbled murrelets nest in oregon from mid april to mid september.

Most animals stick to a life style similar to other closely related species. In the pacific northwest now known to nest high in trees in old growth forest several miles inland from coast. Both sexes incubate the egg in alternating 24 hour shifts for 30 days. M arbled murrelets produce one egg per nest and usually only nest once a year however re nesting is documented.

Rather than building traditional nests they hunker into the moss covered branches of centuries old trees and lay a single egg relying on the. Although it is fairly common off the northern pacific coast its nesting behavior was essentially unknown until the 1970s. A strange mysterious little seabird. Lo and behold the nesting habitat of marbled murrelets was finally discovered coastal old growth coniferous forests of the pacific northwest.

The marbled murrelet usually nests in trees 200 years old or older. They typically lay their single egg high in a tree on a horizontal limb at least 4 inches in. But their nesting habits are nothing short of remarkable. Nests are not built but rather the egg is placed in a small depression or cup made in moss or other debris on the limb.

It nests in old growth forests or on the ground at higher latitudes where trees cannot grow. Marbled murrelets are seabirds that forage in marine waters but nest in forests. It is a member of the auk family.