Marbled murrelets are small, compact birds about 9-10 inches in length and weighing 7-9 ounces.

In the summer, murrelets have dark brown backs and are heavily mottled with brown and white below. The dark backs help to keep murrelets hidden from predators from above searching for prey.

During the winter, murrelets live on the ocean. In the summer, they depend on old-growth forests within 50 miles of the coast for nesting sites; murrelets nest on large diameter branches of old-growth conifers. The egg will often be laid in an indentation of moss and lichen that coats a tree branch.

Pairs raise one chick each year. Parents travel to and from the ocean to bring food back for the chick.

The wings of the murrelets allow them to fly underwater where they capture small fish and crustaceans.

Marbled murrelets can be seen on Puget Sound.

Very little is known about this bird.