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346 Featured Specimen
Common murre

Details

Common murre

Uria aalge

Size
38–46 cm · 0.9–1.3 kg
Diet
Carnivore
Activity
Diurnal
Sociality
Colony
Lifespan
20–30 years

The common murre is an auk that forms dense colonies on northern sea cliffs. Underwater it swims with its wings to chase fish.

Range

Habitat range map
Native range Occasional / Transient
Pacific OceanPacific OceanPacific OceanAtlantic OceanAtlantic OceanAtlantic OceanAtlantic OceanAtlantic OceanArctic OceanArctic OceanArctic OceanPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearcticNearctic

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Details

Habitat

It inhabits cold Arctic, North Atlantic, North Pacific, Palearctic, and Nearctic seas. Breeding takes place on narrow ledges of coastal cliffs.

Appearance

Length is 38-46 cm and weight 850-1300 g. It has a dark brown-black head and back, white underparts, a pointed bill, and an upright stance on ledges.

Behavior

Diurnal and highly colonial, it crowds tightly at breeding cliffs. At sea it dives and uses its wings like flippers to pursue prey.

Feeding

A carnivore, it feeds mainly on small fish such as sand lance and herring relatives. It chases prey underwater and carries fish crosswise in the bill to chicks.

Reproduction

No nest is built; a single egg is laid directly on the rock ledge. The pear-shaped egg resists rolling, and the chick leaves the cliff for the sea before it can fly well.

Notes

It is listed as Least Concern. Oil pollution, fishing-net bycatch, and changes in forage fish can pose local risks.