Marbled Murrelet Nest Data

This data is an aggregate of predicted suitable habitat from a wide scale algorithm using elevation distance inland forest cover tree height and age as well as two separate regional nesting habitat models.

Marbled murrelet nest data.

Murrelets generally nest in solitude although multiple nests sometimes occur within a small area. 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. 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. They typically lay their single egg high in a tree on a horizontal limb at least 4 inches in.

In washington marbled murrelets nest in mature and old growth conifer forests and sometimes in comparatively younger forests with residual old growth trees. Agenda item b attachment 17 page 17 of 46. Marbled murrelets are seabirds that forage in marine waters but nest in forests. They typically lay their single egg high in a tree on a horizontal limb at least 4 inches in.

Incubation lasts about 30 days and chicks fledge after about 28 days after hatching. Both sexes incubate the egg in alternating 24 hour shifts for 30 days. It is a temporal snapshot. It is a member of the auk family.

They typically lay their single egg high in a tree on a horizontal limb at least 4 inches in diameter with steller s jays crows and ravens the main predators of murrelet nests. Murrelets generally nest in solitude although multiple nests sometimes occur within a small area. Marbled murrelet surveys standard survey methods survey methods look for general use not nests surveys conducted at dawn when birds most active look listen for murrelets survey stations although murrelets can be loud and obvious they also often fly into a stand silently. M arbled murrelets produce one egg per nest and usually only nest once a year however re nesting is documented.

Marbled murrelets nest in oregon from mid april to mid september. The marbled murrelet has declined in number since humans began logging its nest trees in the latter half of the 19th cen. 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 described. It nests in old growth forests or on the ground at higher latitudes where trees cannot grow.

Conducted throughout the range of the marbled murrelet. They locate their nest in a depression on a mat of moss lichen or debris accumulations on large branches. The marbled murrelet is a small seabird from the north pacific.