Brachyramphus

At first glance, these birds may look like tiny versions of puffins or guillemots—compact, chunky-bodied seabirds with short wings and quick, whirring flight. But Brachyramphus murrelets live very different lives from most of their relatives. Instead of spending all their time around cliffs and rocky coasts, they have developed a remarkable split personality: they are ocean birds for most of the year, yet when it comes time to breed, they disappear into forests or remote mountain areas.

Members of this genus, which include species such as the marbled murrelet and Kittlitz’s murrelet, are built for underwater agility. Their wings are small and narrow, perfect for “flying” beneath the waves as they chase small fish and invertebrates. On the surface, they look neat and tidy, usually dressed in dark, smooth feathers that help them blend with the cold northern seas they inhabit. In winter, they wear clean black-and-white plumage, but in summer, they change into mottled brown outfits that look almost scruffy. That rough, speckled appearance is not a fashion accident—it helps camouflage them when they are sitting on nests far from the ocean.

Most auks lay eggs on rocky ledges near the sea, but Brachyramphus murrelets often fly many miles inland to nest. The marbled murrelet famously places its single egg high on the thick, mossy branches of old-growth trees, sometimes dozens of meters above the ground. Kittlitz’s murrelet, on the other hand, nests on bare ground in remote alpine areas or near glaciers. For decades, scientists had almost no idea where these birds nested because they were so rarely seen on land. The discovery of their forest nesting habits was one of the great wildlife mysteries of the twentieth century. Imagine a bird that spends its life at sea, then suddenly vanishes into silent forests to raise a chick—no wonder they confused people for so long.