The decline of the marbled murrelet and its association with old-growth forests—at least in the southern part of its range—have made it a flagship species in the forest protection movement.

The marbled murrelet was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[3] Gmelin based his description on the "marbled murrelet" that had been described and illustrated in 1785 by both the English ornithologist John Latham and by the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant.

[4][5] Both authors mention the two specimens in the Leverian Museum that had been collected in Prince William Sound during James Cook's third voyage to the Pacific Ocean.

[7] The marbled murrelet is now one of three species placed in the genus Brachyramphus that was introduced in 1837 by the German born naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt.

The bird closely resembles its congener, the long-billed murrelet; in fact, these species were considered conspecific up until 1998.

They winter mostly within the same general area, except that they tend to vacate the most northern sections of their range, especially where ice forms on the surface of the fiords.

[14] From southeast Alaska southward, marbled murrelets use mature or old-growth forest stands near the coastline for nesting.

[16] However, Marshall [17] stated that because of their low aerial buoyancy marbled murrelets often nest high in the treetops or on steep slopes.

[15] All marbled murrelet nests found in Washington, Oregon, and California were located in old-growth trees that ranged from 38 inches (88 cm) d.b.h.

Nests were located high above the ground and had good overhead protection but allowed easy access to the exterior forest.

[12] In northern regions where coniferous forests nest sites are unavailable, marbled murrelets occupy alpine or tundra near the ocean.

They also select stands dominated by mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), western redcedar (Thuja plicata), and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) for nesting.

[12][13] In California, nests are most often located in redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) dominated stands with scattered Sitka spruce, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and Douglas-fir.

[14] The marbled murrelet feeds at sea both in pelagic offshore areas (often associating with upwellings) and inshore in protected bays and fiords.

The bird has not been known to wander from the Pacific coast of North America, all inland and eastern Brachyramphus records being of the closely related long-billed murrelet.

[12][15] Some principal foods include sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus), Pacific herring (Clupea haringus), capelin (Mallotus villosus), shiner perch, and the invertebrates Euphausia pacifica and Thysanoessa spinifera.

Adults fly from ocean feeding areas to inland nest sites, mostly at dusk and dawn.

[13] Steller's jays (Cyanocitta stelleri) and common ravens (Corvus corax) prey on marbled murrelet eggs and nestlings.

[21] Loss of their nesting habitat in old-growth trees along with the warming ocean temperatures have serious negative impacts on murrelet populations.

Human activity such as commercial fishing, increased boat traffic and pollution decrease the Marbled murrelet non-breeding distribution.

The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) aims at stabilizing the marbled murrelet population via maintaining and increasing their nesting habitat.