A tiny bird. A giant discovery. It's rare to find a modern-day mystery concerning the location of a bird's nest, but until the 1970s, no one knew where the marbled murrelet laid its eggs. The little bird seemed to live entirely at sea. In this exquisitely illustrated book that won the Science Books & Films Prize for Excellence in Science Books, Joan Dunning presents the amazing story of the marbled murrelet based on dramatic facts uncovered in the last few decades. Focusing on one pair of murrelets and their newborn chick, the author reveals the hidden nest in the canopy of the old-growth forests and the secret life of these birds before their fledgling sets off for the sea.

Lovely illustrations by author/illustrator enhance the life story of a marbled murrelet chick. The nesting location of the marbled murrelets (seabirds) had been a mystery until scientist discovered them deep in the forest exposing chicks to danger. Descriptions of predators, survival methods, and the ecosystem expand the story.