| Common Guillemot / Common Murre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Uria aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763) |
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Colymbus aalge Pontoppidan, 1763 |
The Thin-billed or Common Murre (Uria aalge), also called Common Guillemot, is a relatively large auk. Erik Pontoppidan was a Danish author Bishop, historian and antiquary born at Aarhus (on the eastern shore of Jutland) August Year 1763 ( MDCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a In Scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different Scientific names used for a single Taxon. Uria is a genus of Seabirds in the Auk family known commonly as Guillemots or in North America as murres'. Guillemot is the Common name for several species of Seabird in the Auk family comprising two genera Uria and Cepphus This article is about a family of birds For the American ornithological journal see The Auk. It spends most of its lifetime at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands.
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Description
Adult birds are 38-46 cm in length with a 61-73 cm wingspan and weigh 945-1044 g when fully grown. 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 with a dark spur behind the eye. The chicks are downy in appearance with blackish on top and white below.
The bird is a fast, agile flier. The wings flap quickly and continuously in a straight line along the sea surface.
Western European birds of the subspecies U. In Zoology, as in other branches of Biology, subspecies is the Taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a Species. a. albionis are dark brown rather than black, most obviously so in colonies in southern Britain. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands Some individuals in the North Atlantic, known as Bridled Guillemots, have a white ring around the eye extending back as a white line. They are not a distinct subspecies however, but a polymorphism which becomes more common the farther north the birds breed - perhaps character displacement with the northernly Brünnich's Guillemot, which has a white bill-stripe but no bridled morph. Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different Phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words the occurrence of more than one Character displacement refers to the phenomenon where differences among similar species whose distributions overlap geographically are accentuated in regions where the species co-occur The Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot ( Uria lomvia) is a Bird in the Auk family (Alcidae The white is highly contrasting especially in the latter species and would provide an easy means for an individual bird to recognize conspecifics in densely-packed breeding colonies. Conspecificity is a concept in Biology. Two or more individual Organisms Populations or Taxa are termed conspecific if they belong [1]
Common Murres have a variety of calls, including a soft purring noise.
Distribution and status[1]
The breeding habitat is islands, rocky shores, cliffs and sea stacks on:
- North Atlantic coasts, in North America as far south as New Brunswick, and in Europe as far south as Portugal. A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits" is an Ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular Species. New Brunswick ( French: Nouveau-Brunswick /nuvobʁɔnzwik/ is one of Canada 's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.
- The north Pacific coasts of Alaska and British Columbia down to California. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. On the Asian side it breeds in Russia and Hokkaidō. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan 's
Some birds are permanent residents; northern birds migrate south to open waters near New England, southern California, Japan, Korea and the western Mediterranean. Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of Birds Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia.
The breeding population is large, at over two million pairs. It is presently stable, but potential threats include excessive hunting (legal in Newfoundland), pollution and oil spills. Newfoundland and Labrador (ˈnuːfɨn(dlənd ən(d ˈlæbrəˌdɔr (Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador is a province of Canada, the tenth and latest to join the Confederation Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in For the fictional character see Oil Slick (Transformers. An oil spill is the release of a Liquid Petroleum Hydrocarbon into
Ecology and behaviour
Common Murres can venture far from their breeding grounds to forage; distances of 100 km and more are often observed[2] though if sufficient food is available closer by, the birds will venture much shorter distances. These birds are surface-divers which forage for food by swimming underwater using their wings for propulsion. Dives usually last less than one minute, but the birds hunt underwater for distances of over 50 meters on a regular base. Diving depths up to 50 m have been recorded and birds can remain underwater a couple of minutes, for a maximum recorded underwater distance of 180 m. U. aalge mainly eat small schooling fish 200 mm long or less, such as polar cod, capelin, sand lances, sprats, sandeels, Atlantic cod and Atlantic herring. The SWARM Remote Weapon System (Stabilised Weapon And Reconnaissance Mount is a fully armored Remote weapon system designed and built by the Thales Group in The polar cod or Arctic cod, Boreogadus saida, is a fish of the family Gadidae, related to the true Cod (genus Gadus) The capelin or caplin, Mallotus villosus, is a small Fish of the Smelt family found in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans A sand lance or sandlance is a Fish belonging to the family Ammodytidae. See also Sprat (surname, Sprotte Sprattus is a Genus of small Oily fish of the Family Clupeidae Sand eel or sandeel is the common name used for a considerable number of species of Fish. The Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, is a well-known Demersal food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. Atlantic herring ( Clupea harengus) is one of the most abundant species of Fish on the planet Capelin and sand lances are favorite food, but what the main prey is at any one time depends much on what is available in quantity[2]. They also eat some molluscs, marine worms, squid, and crustaceans such as amphipods. Molluscs are animals belonging to the phylum Mollusca. There are around 250000 extant Species within the phylum with an estimated 70000 A worm is a common name given to a diverse group of invertebrate animals that have a long soft body and no legs Squid are marine Cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species Structure of crustaceans As Arthropods crustaceans have a stiff Exoskeleton, which must be shed to allow the animal to grow ( Ecdysis or molting Amphipoda (amphipods are an order of animals that includes over 7000 described Species of Shrimp -like Crustaceans ranging from 1 mm to 140 mm They consume 20-32 grams of food in a day on average. They are often seen carrying the fish in their bill with the fishtail hanging out. [1]
Reproduction
Courtship displays including bowing, billing and preening. The male points its head vertically and makes croaking and growling noises to attract the females. As usual for auks, the species is monogamous. Monogamy is the custom or condition of having only one mate in a Relationship, thus forming a Couple. The colonies are densely-packed, with up to twenty pairs occupying one meter square at peak season. The islands can also be inhabited by other species, which mingle with the murres to varying extent.
They usually nest in tight-packed colonies (known as "loomeries") and lay their eggs on bare rock ledges or ground. The eggs are pointed, so that if disturbed they roll in a circle rather than fall off the ledge. Eggs are laid between May and July for the Atlantic populations and March to July for those in the Pacific. The eggs vary in colour and pattern to help the parents recognize them, each egg is unique. Colours include white, green, blue or brown with spots or speckles in black or lilac. Both parents incubate the egg for 28 to 34 days, swapping in twelve hour shifts.
The chicks will leave the nest after 18 to 25 days, by simply jumping down into the sea, slowing their fall by fluttering as they are not yet able to fly. Once the young chicks have left the nest the male teaches them how to dive and catch fish for up to two months. The chicks learn to fly roughly two weeks after fledging. Up until then the male feeds and cares for the chick at sea. In migration the chick swims about 1000 km. Common Murres only breed when they reach four to six years old. The lifespan is about 20 years.
Footnotes
References
- Bennett, J. (2001): Animal Diversity Web - Uria aalge. Retrieved 2008-JAN-13.
- BirdLife International (2004). Uria aalge. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Harrison, Peter (1988): Seabirds (2nd ed. ). Christopher Helm, London. The Helm Identification Guides are a series of books dealing with the identification of groups of Birds The series include two types of guide those whose ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
- Lilliendahl, K. ; Solmundsson, J. ; Gudmundsson, G. A. & Taylor, L. (2003): Can surveillance radar be used to monitor the foraging distribution of colonially breeding alcids? [English with Spanish abstract] Condor 105(1): 145–150. This article is about the journal The Condor for information about the bird from which it takes it name see Condor. DOI: 10. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document. 1650/0010-5422(2003)105[145:CSRBUT]2. 0. CO;2 HTML abstract
- National Geographic Society (2002): Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural National Geographic, Washington DC. ISBN 0-792-26877-6
- Nettleship, David N. (1996): 2. Common Murre. In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (eds. ) (1996), Handbook of Birds of the World (Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks): 709-710, plate 59. HBW_-_Taxonomygif|right|frame|(400 × 258 pixels file size38KBMIME typeimage/gif|HBW-Page on Taxonomy]]HBW-accounts_8-082-083_copia Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-20-2
- Sibley, David Allen (2000): The Sibley Guide to Birds. David Allen Sibley (born 1962, New York) is an American ornithologist. The Sibley Guide to Birds is a Guide for the identification of Birds found in the North American region as defined by the American Birding Alfred A. Knopf, New York. ISBN 0-679-45122-6
External links
- USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: Common murre Uria aalge.
- Common Murre Restoration Project
- Project Puffin:- Common Murres
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