The marbled murrelet brachyramphus marmoratus is a small seabird from the north pacific it is a member of the auk family.
Alcids marbled murrelet.
Marbled murrelets and kittlitz s murrelets are unusual among the alcids in that they molt to cryptic brown plumage during the breeding season.
But somewhere in the far past a few murrelets ancestors decided that those giant woody green things just inland off the coast made pretty good nest platforms too.
An auk or alcid is a bird of the family alcidae in the order charadriiformes the alcid family includes the murres guillemots auklets puffins and murrelets the word auk ɔː k is derived from icelandic álka from old norse alka auk from proto germanic alkǭ sea bird auk.
Apart from the extinct great auk all auks can fly under water as well as in the air.
Niche overlap and resource partitioning have seldom been investigated in the marine habitats of seabirds but are obvious determinants of community an.
Swift direct flight low over the water on rapid wing beats.
At sea they are often found feeding in pairs near the shore.
Like other alcids the marbled murrelet has short wings which it uses to swim as deep as 300 feet underwater in search of small fish and invertebrates.
Feeds on fish and crustaceans.
They are typically short and squat with stubby wings suited for flying underwater.
Legs and feet are brown.
In the non breeding season they are gray and black mixed with white above with white bellies.
Its habit of nesting in trees was suspected but not documented until a tree climber found a chick in 1974 making it one of the last north american bird species to have its nest.
Small chubby seabird with dark brown mottled upperparts and paler white tipped brown feathers on underparts giving a wavy barred appearance.
In some species the young go to sea when.
Marbled murrelets belong to the alcid family that includes puffins murres guillemots auklets and dovekie.
Murrelets are about 20 cm 8 inches long thin billed and in winter plain plumaged.
More pelagic and gregarious than marbled murrelets ancient murrelets are typically found farther out with flocks of up to 30 birds a common sight in the winter.
They are sometimes called sea sparrows as are auklets.
It nests in old growth forests or on the ground at higher latitudes where trees cannot grow.
From october through december they are numerous in offshore areas are often visible from shore and are the most likely of washington s alcids to be found inland especially in.
They must flap their wings very quickly to fly and look like large bumblebees as they skim over the surface of the water.
Designed with an aquatic life in mind alcids are seabirds that come ashore only to nest.
