Common murre
| Common murre | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom Information | |
| Domain | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Subkingdom | Bilateria |
| Branch | Deuterostomia |
| Phylum Information | |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Sub-phylum | Vertebrata |
| Infraphylum | Gnathostomata |
| Class Information | |
| Superclass | Tetrapoda |
| Class | Aves |
| Sub-class | Neornithes |
| Infra-class | Neoaves |
| Order Information | |
| Superorder | Charadriimorphae |
| Order | Charadriiformes |
| Sub-order | Lari |
| Infraorder | Alcides |
| Family Information | |
| Family | Alcidae |
| Sub-family | Alcinae |
| Tribe Information | |
| Tribe | Alcini |
| Genus Information | |
| Genus | Uria |
| Species Information | |
| Species | U. aalge |
| Population statistics | |
| Population | >18,000,000 (2018 est.)[1] |
| Conservation status | Least concern[2] |
The common murre, also known as the common guillemot or thin-billed murre (Uria aalge) is a species of sea bird of the family Alcidae, and found in the low-Arctic waters and coastlines of the north Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Description
The common murre is medium-sized, about 15–18 inches in length, a wingspan of 24–29 inches, and weigh between 2 to 2.7 pounds. Plumage above is dark brown to black, from the head to the back and wings; the underside of the body is white. Their long dark beak is thin and pointed, tail is short and rounded. Some individuals from the North Atlantic have the so-called "bridled" shape, with a thin white eye circle and a white line that stretches behind the eye. Winter plumage is almost identical except that the throat and cheeks turn white and a dark line appears behind the eye. Males are indistinguishable from females.
Subspecies
- Uria aalge aalge; eastern North America to the Baltic Sea, Norway, and Svalbard to northern Russia (Novaya Zemlya)
- Uria aalge albionis; British Isles to western Iberian Peninsula; Heligoland archipelago
- Uria aalge californica; United States: Washington state to southern California
- Uria aalge inornata; Korea, Japan and Russia (Kamchatka) to Bering Sea and Canada (British Columbia)
Range and habitat
Within the Atlantic Ocean, the common murre is found from eastern Greenland, south to Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia in Canada, to Cape Cod in the United States; eastward it is found on Svalbard south to Scandinavia, the Iceland, the British Isles, and northern Europe south to the southern Spanish coast. In the Pacific Ocean it is found in western Alaska and the Bering Sea, southwards to the Aleutians, Japan and eastern China, and western Canada south to California.
It is found in sub-Arctic, ice-free waters, with breeding colonies established around islands and shorelines with rocky cliff faces. In the Atlantic breeding colonies are in the west between the 43o and 56o northern latitude and in the east between 40o and 75o northern latitude. In the Pacific they breed on the Asian coasts between 40o and 70o northern latitude, on the North American Pacific coast their breeding area ranges from the 36o to 68o northern latitude in Alaska. Northern birds migrate south during winter for ice-free waters.
Threats
The IUCN has classified this species as least concern, due to its large range and extensive numbers, estimated to be in excess of 18 million birds. They are, however, susceptible to immediate and sudden changes to their environment. A breeding population on Bear Island in the Barents Sea was reduced by 85% due to over-fishing, while a decline in numbers within the Irish Sea has been blamed on oil leaks from vessels sunk in World War II[3].
