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Deepseawaters
Home Deep
Sea BirdsCommon Murre
Common Murre
Common Name: Common Murre
Scientific Name: Uria aalge
Description
The
common murre is one of the success stories
of the sea - about 10 million breed in the northern parts
of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and millions more are
young birds that are gaining the experience they'll need to
attempt nesting the first time. Many of the features of murres'
life history show just how difficult life at sea is. Murres
don't even try to breed for the first time until they're five
or six years old and murres lay only one egg in a clutch,
probably because the difficulty of finding food means that
they are able to feed only one chick. Both parents take turns
incubating the egg on a bare rock ledge.
Behaviour
Common
murres
can fly 200 kilometers from the nest to find food for their
chicks, and may dive as deep as 100 meters for food, but 70
kilometers and 50 meters are probably more typical maximums.
Diet
Murres
feed
their chicks three to five fish a day, and adults eat mostly
fish too, but they may also consume zooplankton and squid.
Identification Tips
Length: 14 inches
Sexes similar
Immature like
basic-plumaged adult but often with smaller bill
Large alcid
that dives for food from water surface
Thin, pointed
bill
Small, rounded
tail
Blurry streaks
make flanks appear dusky
Thin white trailing
edge to secondaries visible at rest
Pelagic bird
only coming ashore to breed
Adult Alternate
Blackish head, neck, back, wings, and tail
White breast, belly, and undertail coverts
Some Atlantic birds have white eyering
and line extending to the rear of face
White breast meets dark neck as blunt,
rounded intrusion
Adult Basic
White foreneck
Dark line extending
from eye across cheek
Similar Species
The
Thick-billed Murre is very similar to the
Common Murre. In breeding plumage the Thick-billed
Murre is blacker above with a white point intruding into the
black throat. In winter, the Thick-billed Murre has a darker
face without the dark line on the cheek. At close range in
all plumages, it has a thin, white line on the bill that the
Common Murre lacks and an overall heavier
bill. Razorbills have heavier bills, whiter flanks, and pointed
tails. Guillemots also have thin bills but are all black with
white wing patches in summer and are much paler in winter
with white wing patches.
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