Common Murre

Common Murre, breeding plumage

About the photographs

Common Murre, nonbreeding plumage, Monterey, CA, October

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Food
7. Behavior
8. Reproduction
9. Conservation Status
10. Other Names

An abundant, penguin-like bird of the cooler northern oceans, the Common Murre nests along rocky cliffs and spends its winter at sea.

Cool Facts

• In the Atlantic, some populations include "bridled" or "ringed" individuals, which have a white eye-ring and a white line extending backward from the eyes. Bridled birds are more common farther north.
• The high degree of variation in color and markings of Common Murre eggs may allow parent murres to recognize their own egg when they return to the colony from time at sea.

• The egg of a Common Murre is so pointed at one end that when placed on a flat surface and pushed, it rolls around in a circle. Such a shape may help keep the egg from rolling off of its nesting shelf.

Description

• Size: 38-43 cm (15-17 in)
• Wingspan: 64-71 cm (25-28 in)
• Weight: 800-1125 g (28.24-39.71 ounces)

• Medium-sized waterbird.
• Black back and head, white underside.
• Rather long, slender, pointed bill.
• Face and throat white in nonbreeding plumage.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Similar to nonbreeding adult.

Similar Species

• Very similar to Thick-billed Murre, which has a shorter and thicker bill, a white line on the gape, is blacker on the back, lacks streaked flanks, and in winter, has a darker face. In breeding plumage the white of the breast meets the dark throat in a straight line or shallow inverted "U" in Common Murre, but in a sharp inverted "V" in thick-billed.
• Razorbill very similar from a distance, but is more robust, and has a deeper and blunter bill, and often holds it longer tail cocked up into the air.

Sound

Generally silent at sea, makes gutteral "urr" at colony.

Range

Summer Range

Breeds along coast from western Alaska southward to central California, and from Labrador southward to New Brunswick. Also in Greenland and along northern coasts of Europe and Asia.

Winter Range

Winters at sea from Newfoundland southward to Massachusetts, and from Alaska to southern California; occasionally farther southward. Also northern Europe and Asia.

Food

Fish, squid and other marine invertebrates.

Behavior

Foraging

Dives underwater to capture prey, using its wings to swim.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Shallow depression in rocky ledge on steep cliff. Nests in colonies.

Egg Description

Very pointed at one end. Color variable, ranging from white to tan without markings, to dark green or turquoise with extensive black spots and scrawls.

Condition at Hatching

Covered in down, able to stand within one day.

Conservation Status

Numerous, but vulnerable to oil spills and gill-netting. Pacific populations have declined and partially recovered, while Atlantic populations appear to be increasing.

Other Names

Guillemot marmette (French)
Arao común (Spanish)
Atlantic Murre, Guillemot (British) (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Ainley, D. G., D. N. Nettleship, H. R. Carter, and A. E. Storey. 2002. Common Murre (Uria aalge). In The Birds of North America, No. 666 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America,Inc., Philadelphia, PA.