murrelet
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈmɜːrəlɪt/
- During our hike along the coastline, we spotted a murrelet nesting on a rocky ledge near the sea.
- the marbled murrelet
- murrelet nest
- murrelet, a sea bird
Examples
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For example, the threatened marbled murrelet is difficult to observe because it builds no nests but rather lays its eggs high in the branches of coastal old-growth trees.
Academic text (1997) -
The decision to further defer hundreds of acres of clearcuts is one that we welcome and provides interim relief for the murrelet.
Blog text (25) -
The state of Oregon has been playing fast and loose with the law for years in the way it claims to 'protect' the imperiled marbled murrelet...
Blog text (25) -
The district lies in prime spotted owl and marbled murrelet territory and has two federally designated wild and scenic rivers running through it.
Academic text (1993) -
The agency developed separate conservation strategies for spotted owls, marbled murrelets, salmonids, and a "multi-species" strategy that provided habitats for forty-nine other at-risk wildlife species.
Academic text (2018) -
The murrelet? Mink in the Columbia River? Asthmatic children in inner cities? Mexican workers in border-town factories? The forests? The ozone layer? Farm workers? Groundwater? Biodiversity? No one?
Academic text (1993) -
In the early morning, a murrelet gracefully swoops down to the water's surface to catch its breakfast.
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As the sun set over the ocean, the calls of the murrelet echoed through the coastal air.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Murrelet comes from an old name for a similar sea bird, murre, plus the small ending -let, which means 'little' and appears in words like piglet. So a murrelet is a 'little murre', a small coastal seabird that often nests near the sea.