Marbled Murrelet Loses 200K Acres of Habitat

WASHINGTON (CN) - The endangered marbled murrelet will lose 189,271 acres of designated critical habitat in northern California and southern Oregon after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the land does not meet the definition of critical habitat.

After the reduction, the small bird, which feeds at the ocean but nests up to 80 miles inland, will still have over 3 million acres of designated critical habitat, across the two states.

According to the agency, the land being removed in Oregon does not support the hemlock and tanoak habitat the murrelet favors, while in California the land being removed has never been murrelet habitat.

The agency also revised the scientific name of the marbled murrelet from Brachyramphus marmoratus marmoratus to Brachyramphus marmoratus.

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