Maria Mudd Ruth - Rare Bird: Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet

PRAISE FOR RARE BIRD

Maria Mudd Ruths engaging, scientific detective story bristles with humor, curiosity, frustration and passion as the accidental naturalist tracks the history of this elusive seabird, which flew from obscurity to star on the endangered species list and, in the process, rescued thousands of acres of old-growth Pacific Coast forest from the loggers ax. A fascinating avian odyssey, recounted with ferocity and grace.

The Los Angeles Times

How the mystery was solved and the implications of this discovery in the ongoing battle between environmentalists and loggers in the Pacific Northwest are conveyed in Ruths infectious tale.... The story of the discovery of the nest is alone worth the price of the book.

Booklist

Heartfelt and thoughtful, inspired and well-written, Rare Bird is a rare book. It will transport you into a world you didnt realize existed.

Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean and Eye of the Albatross

... [T]his is one of those tales where the science of natural history and a sense of wonder at the world around us come together; ultimately, like the author, we are seduced by a seemingly ordinary creature that manages the most extraordinary feats...

American Birding Association

Fine nature writing, good science, and compelling historical anecdotes spanning the time of Captain Cook to contemporary naturalists, loggers, and fishermen combine in an engaging narrative.

Library Journal

Rare Bird is a rare booknot because it is hard to obtain, but because it tells its story so well.... The Marbled Murrelet is a rare bird in that, once you get to know it a little, it can change your life.

Santa Cruz Bird Club

Ruths details of the hunt for bits of information about the birdfrom dissecting specimens to counting birdcalls in the predawn lightprovide rare insight into the trials and joys of scientific discovery.

Publishers Weekly

It is not often that you find a natural history book you cant put down. Rare Bird is such a book. This lyrical, sprightly tale of a remarkable bird and the woman who fell for it shows how a small piece of the natural world may climb into the soul and lodge there, changing us foreverand how, if we lose that piece through inattention, we lose some critical part of ourselves. A marvelous story beautifully told.

Jennifer Ackerman, author of Notes from the Shore

The result is a fascinating and inspiring detective story.

Birders World

Maria Ruth tells a story as fascinating, as appealing, and as peculiar as the marbled murrelet itself. Rare Bird is a unique and delightful book: too passionate for ordinary journalism, too well-researched for a personal essay, and far too witty for natural history.

Peter Cashwell, author of The Verb To Bird

Mixing history, personal observation and environmental science into a readable narrative, Ruth details why the bird is endangered and what can be done to change that.... An important addition to birding and environmental literature.

Santa Cruz Sentinel

In Rare Bird [Ruth] tells us not only about this intriguing seabird, but also about the dedicated people drawn into its world. The murrelet becomes a symbol of wildlife endangered by people who do not yet realize their own lethal power in a world they barely understand... for readers who adore birds or find fascination in natures subtle charms, Rare Bird is a gem. All in all, it is a neat little book about a neat little bird and a tale well told.

Kenai Peninsula Clarion

... [I]ts an eminently readable book for birders... a good mystery... and a focused case study of this one single species and its endangered existence. Other species are more endangered, all are fighting their own particular battles, but understanding this one bird and its challenges drives the broader lesson home for the readers.

Forsyth County [North Carolina] Audubon Society

... Ruth does an outstanding job of telling the tale of the discoveries of the marbled murrelets nesting ecology and highlighting some of the important players. Whether you know a lot or a little about this fascinating bird, I know youll enjoy the book.

Monterey Bay Birds

Beautifully and deftly written. Truly captures the mystery and excitement of the murrelets story.

Joan Dunning, author of From the Redwood Forest

RARE BIRD

Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet

MARIA MUDD RUTH

Mountaineers Books is the nonprofit publishing arm of The Mountaineers, an organization founded in 1906 and dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas. 1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201 Seattle, WA 98134 800.553.4453 www.mountaineersbooks.org

Originally published by Rodale

Copyright 2005, 2013 by Maria Mudd Ruth

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

16 15 14 13 5 4 3 2 1

Cover Design: Karen Schober

Illustrations and cover artwork from the field notebooks of Paul Harris Jones

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mudd-Ruth, Maria.

Rare bird : pursuing the mystery of the marbled murrelet / Maria Mudd Ruth.

pages cm

Originally published in hardcover in 2005 by Rodale Inc.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-59485-835-2 (pbk) ISBN 978-1-59485-836-9 (ebook)

I. Title.

QL696.C42M83 2013

598dc23

2013013142

Printed on 100% recycled paper using vegetable-based inks.

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-59485-835-2

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-59485-836-9

For Mikeunstinting, unfailing, unbelievable

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

Aloof in the icy-cold water off Alaskas rugged southern coast, a solitary birddark head, chubby body, stubby tailpaddles frantically against the waves as it moves toward shore. In one swift and sudden gesture, it lifts its pointed bill into the air, stretches its neck, and dives. Stroking its wings as if flying, it moves rapidly through the water. Within seconds, it catches a fish, swallows, and returns to the surface. Shaking droplets off its feathers, it begins preening, stopping only to glance in all directions, ever alert to changes on the water.

As spring turns to summer, the bird will lose its black-and-white feathers and don its breeding plumage, whichat a distance and in a wordis brown. Close up, though, brown becomes sooty brown, brownish black, chocolate, rufous, rusty-buff, light tan, and cinnamon on the birds back, head, and wings. Brown becomes light brown marbled with soft whites on its throat, flanks, and breast. When its new set of summer feathers is fully grown, the bird flies closer to shore, where it joins others of its kind loosely scattered across the water, some in small groups, most in pairs, some remaining ever aloof.