The outlook is brighter today for the critically endangered central coast population of marbled murrelet, thanks in large part to advocacy by the Audubon network. In the past year, California State Parks- the agency responsible for protecting most of this population's nesting habitat- has put in place strong on the ground measures to protect nesting areas and we expect to see improvement in the population over the coming few years.

Marbled murrelets in the Santa Cruz mountains nest in ancient redwoods in Big Basin and Portola State Parks and forage for small fish in the nearshore waters off of Ano Nuevo State Park north to Half Moon Bay. The population hovers at a low of about 600 individuals. The primary reason for the precipitous decline of the species here is nest predation by unnaturally large populations of Steller’s Jays, ravens and crows (corvids), which have increased dramatically due to human provisioning at campgrounds and other public use areas. In 2009 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service predicted the population will go extinct unless measures are taken to reverse its decline.

In 2012-2013, Audubon  California partnered with Santa Clara Valley Audubon and with Dr. Shaye Wolf, a marine ornithologist at the Center for Biological Diversity (  CBD) to work through State Parks’ General Plan process to put in place measures to prevent the extinction of this genetically distinct population of murrelets. We wrote comment letters, testified at hearings and sent an Action Alert which generated over 1200 letters from Audubon activists. When the State Parks and Recreation Commission refused to put in place these measures that were also supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, CBD had little choice but to file suit against State Parks.

The subsequent legal settlement between CBD and State Parks in 2014 was made stronger by Audubon’s involvement and has resulted in aggressive action and rapid improvement to core breeding habitat for this population in the last six months, including comprehensive trash management and other measures to reduce unnaturally large corvid populations; extensive public outreach that makes the murrelet a focal point of the regional parks; annual monitoring of marbled murrelet status and predator numbers; and, and a comprehensive assessment every three years requiring further action including closing or relocation of campgrounds if murrelet status does not improve.

(New signage in campgrounds, summer 2014, Big Basin State Park)

We deeply thank the Audubon network and activists for this victory. Your voices matter! We’ll keep you updated on the status of these amazing birds in central California.

(photo of Marbled Murrelet at top courtesy the National Park Service)