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Common Murre

Uria aalge

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernFishMarineCavity nestLarge · 992 g
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 1
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 2
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 3
Photo: Bouke ten Cate · CC BY 4.0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 4
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 5
Photo: Bouke ten Cate · CC BY 4.0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 6
Photo: Bouke ten Cate · CC BY 4.0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 7
Photo: TRinaud · CC BY 4.0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 8
Photo: TRinaud · CC BY 4.0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 9
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Common Murre (Uria aalge), photo 10
Photo: Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN, United States · CC BY 2.0

What the Common Murre sounds like

Sonogram of the Common Murre: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Call · Fréhel, Cotes-d'Armor, Brittany, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Common Murre: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Call, duet · Cap Fréhel, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The common murre is 38–46 cm (15–18 in) in length with a 61–73 cm (24–29 in) wingspan. Male and female are indistinguishable in the field and weight ranges between 945 g (2 lb 1+1⁄2 oz) in the south of their range and 1,044 g (2 lb 5 oz) in the north. A weight range of 775–1,250 g (1 lb 11+1⁄2 oz – 2 lb 12 oz) has been reported. In breeding plumage, the nominate subspecies U. a. aalge is black on the head, back and wings, and has white underparts. It has a thin dark pointed bill and a small rounded black tail.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Common Murre

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is July, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Common Murre

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 29 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States United Kingdom Sweden Norway Canada Netherlands Belgium Ireland France Germany Denmark Iceland Faroe Islands Spain Finland Isle of Man Russia Portugal Poland Japan St. Pierre & Miquelon Guernsey Estonia Jersey Mexico Lithuania Greenland South Korea Latvia

Recorded as a rare visitor in Morocco, Taiwan.

About the Common Murre

The common murre or common guillemot is a large auk, one of several species called murre or guillemot. 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.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia) Thick-billed MurreUria lomviaSince the extinction of the great auk in the mid-19th century, the murres are the largest living members of the Alcidae.

Side by side: Common Murre vs Thick-billed Murre

Watch the Common Murre on live cams

Puffin Loafing Ledge stream previewLIVE
Puffin Loafing LedgeSeal Island, Maine, USA · Audubon Seabird Institute on explore.org

Browse all 118 bird cams worldwide, live and seasonal, by region and species.

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