You wouldn’t think a book with the title of Rare Bird would slip into press without me noticing, but that’s just what happened with this 2005 title by Maria Mudd Ruth. Thankfully a local reading group chose this title and called me to be a guest at their meeting. Once I had my hands on this book I devoured it quickly.
Rare Bird is the story of the Marbled Murrelet, officially a threatened species throughout much of its range. Part of the notoriety of the species comes from its nesting habits, and this was the last North American bird to have its nest described to science. While most of the Marbled Murrelet’s cousins nest on rocky cliffs and offshore islands, this little alcid flies deep into the forests that line the coasts of the north Pacific and nests on big, moss-covered branches of some of the world’s tallest trees, redwoods and Douglas firs that sometimes exceed 300 feet in height.
The first Marbled Murrelet nest was described in 1974, and author Ruth was intrigued that this bird’s biology could go undiscovered for so long. Part reporter and part murrelet enthusiast, she went on a quest to learn everything she could learn about this unusual species. She traces the historical literature, meets field biologists who have made and continue to make key discoveries, and heads afield with researchers before dawn many days both in the forest where murrelets nest and on the coastal waters where they feed. She even moves her family across the country so she can be in close proximity to Marbled Murrelets. It’s a remarkable pilgrimage.
Happily for us, Ruth is an excellent writer. Rare Bird is a great story well told. The text is crisp and the story moves along quickly. If you have ever visited the forests of the Pacific Northwest, and I have spent a lot of time here, the text triggers memories and evokes the feeling of dawn amidst the planet’s most magnificent trees. I can almost smell the rich earth nourished by fir needles as I ponder the text and write these words.
The second Marbled Murrelet nest wasn’t found until the 1980s had begun, bringing along with it an assortment of intensive research projects. It quickly became clear that the Marbled Murrelet depends on old growth forests along the Pacific Coast, forest with huge trees whose upper limbs are a foot or more in diameter and covered with epiphytic mosses, lichens, club mosses, and ferns. Epiphytes are used to create a soft, green cradle for eggs and chicks. These ancient forests had already become a conservation battleground, and the Marbled Murrelet became an ally of the beleaguered Spotted Owl as pawns in the debate about the value of habitat versus the value of lumber.
Much has been learned in the last twenty years, and Ruth summarizes the conservation status of the Marbled Murrelet in this book. I’m afraid to say that she is not optimistic. Habitat loss in an obvious concern, but there are also problems with predation and environmental contamination. Native jays and crows will often rob the nests of Marbled Murrelets and other birds, and while this is a natural relationship, these corvids are more numerous than ever, their populations swelled by their ability to scavenge off the detritus of human society. The Pacific coastal waters are especially susceptible to oil spills, and overfishing has diminished the amount of food available to murrelets and other seabirds.
We’ll hope that Ruth’s pessimism proves wrong. In the meantime, I think I’ll plan a visit to the Pacific Northwest this summer, where I know I’ll be able to watch Marbled Murrelets swimming and diving along the rocky coastline. Perhaps I’ll even rise in the wee hours of the morning one day and head out to a river valley that’s still filled with ancient trees, where I can listen for the gull-like calls of nesting Marbled Murrelets as they wing their way along their daily commute between ocean and forest.
Ruth, Maria Mudd. 2005. Rare Bird: Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet. Rodale Press. $23.95 hardcover. ISBN: 1-59486-090-4.