Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 480,000 - 760,000 (2011) and decreasing.
Status EN
Forest habitat destruction, overfishing, nest predation by corvids, gill-net fishing and oil spills are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Sandlance, herring and, in winter, invertebrates.
Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) [XC579782]
by Ian Cruickshank from Redwood National and State Parks (near Orick), Humboldt County, California, United States (song, wingbeats)
Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) [XC233936]
by Kayla Brown from Redwood National and State Parks (near Orick), Humboldt County, California, United States (flight call, keers, wavered grunts and wing flapping)
Subspecies
Brachyramphus marmoratus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) and Long-billed Murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix) following AOU (1998).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
perdix (Pallas, 1811) - Kamchatka and Sea of Okhotsk south to northern Japan (Hokkaido). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Long-billed Murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix).
marmoratus (Gmelin, 1789) - Western Aleutians (Attu I) to Barren Is and south-eastern Alaska, south to central California (Santa Cruz Mts).
Similar Species
Kittlitz's Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) which is paler, has white outer tail feathers and shorter bill. In winter, has whiter face broken by dark eye and slight eye-stripe, nearly complete breast-band and white tips to secondaries.
References
See References.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet