Common murre

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.

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
Infraorder	Charadriides
Family Information
Superfamily	Laroidea
Family	Alcidae
Sub-family	Alcinae
Tribe Information
Tribe	Alcini
Genus Information
Genus	Uria
Species Information
Species	U. aalge
Population statistics

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)