Common Guillemot

The Common Murre or Common Guillemot is a large auk. It is also known as the Thin-billed Murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North-Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands.

Picture of the Common Guillemot has been licensed under a GFDL
Original source: Own work
Author: T. Müller
Permission: GNU Free Documentation License

The Common Guillemot is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

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The Common Murre or Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) is a large auk. It is also known as the Thin-billed Murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North-Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands. Common Murres have fast direct flight but are not very agile. More

* Common Guillemot or Common Murre, Uria aalge * Brünnich's Guillemot or Thick-billed Murre, Uria lomvia Some prehistoric species are also known: * Uria bordkorbi (Monterey or Sisquoc Late Miocene of Lompoc, USA) * Uria affinis (Late Pleistocene of E USA) - possibly a subspecies of U. lomvia * Uria paleohesperis U. More

The common guillemot is the largest of the extant auk species. Males and females have the same external appearance. Adult birds are 41 cm long and weigh 900-1100 g. They are brown-black on the upper-parts and white on the under-parts. In breeding plumage, the whole head is dark, and the white breast is sharply shaped into a wide-angled peak towards the dark throat. More

The Common Guillemot, which is also know as the Common Murre, is a large, long necked bird that has a dark head and back and a white underside. Its legs and bill are black. In the winter months the throat, chin and sides of its face turn white. The juvenile looks much like the adult only with a shorter beak. The Guillemot breeds on cliff ledges, and their main breeding season is between May and August. More

The Common Guillemot has a variety of calls, including a soft purring noise. Reproduction Colonies Part of a U. a. californica colony,(Farallon Islands, California) This species nests in densely-packed colonies (known as "loomeries"), with up to twenty pairs occupying one square metre at peak season. Common Murres do not make nests and lay their eggs on bare rock ledges, under rocks, or the ground. More

Common Guillemots breed in colonies at high densities, nesting pairs may be in bodily contact with their neighbours. They make no nest, their single egg is incubated on bare rock. Eggs hatch after ~30 days incubation. The chick is born downy, and can regulate its body temperature after 10 days. They leave the nest site in around 20 days accompanied by the male parent. Chicks cannot fly when they leave the nest but are capable of diving as soon as they hit the water. More

The Common Murre or Common Guillemot is a large auk that can be found in low-Arctic waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. It only comes to land to breed on rocky cliffs or islands and spends the rest of its life out at sea. Murres breed in large, densely-packed colonies that are called loomeries, where they lay a single egg on bare rock. Up to twenty pairs can occupy one square meter at peak season. More

Common Guillemot Lays an Egg in Maine: First Since 1883 MAINE COASTAL ISLANDS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE (ENS) - For the first time in more than 125 years, an egg of a common guillemot, Uria aalge, also known as common murre, has been discovered south of the Canadian border on the east coast of the United States. The egg raises hopes for the success of long-term efforts to restore the seabird species. "We are absolutely elated," said Dr. More

Common GuillemotCommon Guillemot (Uria aalge) Iceland - 2008Photo no. 8868 (Category B) e-CardSend this photo like e-Card PublishBuy/Publish this photo - Another photos: Common Guillemot Common Guillemot(Uria aalge) Photo no. 14034 Photo no. More

Common Guillemot Common Gull Common Hawk-cuckoo Common Merganser Common Myna Common Nighthawk Common Paraque Common Pochard Common Poorwill Common Quail Common Raven Common Redpoll Common Redshank Common Redstart Common Rosefinch Common Scoter Common Shelduck Common Snipe Common Starling Common Swift Common Teal Common Tern Common Tody-flycatcher Common Woodshrike Common Yellowthroat Condor Congo Peafowl Connecticut Warbler Cooper's Hawk Copper Sunbird Cormorant Corn Bunting Corn Crake Coscoroba Swan Crag Martin Crane Hawk Cream-colored Courser Crested Auklet Crested Guan Crested Ibis Crested More

* Autumn attendance of Common Guillemots on Lundy in 2008 * Recruitment * Site-fidelity (philopatry) * Competition for nest sites * Pair copulation * Extra-pair copulation * Mate-guarding Breeding behaviour * Egg Laying * Incubation * Chick Rearing * Provisioning rates More

The Common Guillemot, known as the Common Murre in North America, Uria aalge, is a large alcid. Adult birds are 38-46 cm in length, with a 61-73 cm wingspan. They are black on the head, back and wings, and have white underparts. They have a thin dark pointed bill and a small rounded dark tail. The face becomes white in winter. Western European birds of the race U. a. albionis are dark brown rather than black, most obviously so in colonies in southern Britain. More

Order : Charadriiformes
Family : Alcidae
Genus : Uria
Species : aalge
Authority : (Pontoppidan, 1763)