Uria aalge

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Ecology: Behaviour The Common Guillemot is a pursuit-diving marine bird which forages primarily during daylight. One parent remains at the colony with the chick whilst the other is on a foraging trip . Birds departing colonies usually splash-down to form large rafts close to the colony before departing to foraging areas. External radio tagging has been shown to adversely effect breeding1,2, whereas birds fitted with internal transmitters behaved as normal2. Diet During the breeding season , schooling pelagic fish species are the most important prey for adults , though benthic species can also be important.In Labrador, Canada, Shannies (Sticheaidae) were the main source of food, comprising 84% of the diet in 1996 and 52.9% in 19973. Capelin (Mallotus villosus) were also important, forming 44.7% of the diet in 19973. In the UK, the main prey taxa are sandeel (Ammodytes spp. ) and clupeids. Small gadoids are also important at some colonies. Foraging range This species dives to maximum depths of 170-230m. During the breeding season, surveys recorded the highest densities of birds in the 51 - 100 m depth zone, although birds were still abundant in water less than 50 m and 101 - 200 m deep. Very few were seen in deeper areas4. The foraging range of this species appears variable across seasons and years. At the Isle of May, Scotland, during 1986 around 70% of foraging trips were over 7 km from the colony, whereas in the following year the birds tended to make shorter trips4. Foraging trips in eastern Canada are within 100 km5,6, and in Pribilof Islands, Alaska, foraging occurred mostly within 60 km. In Witless Bay , Newfoundland, foraging aggregations formed over large Capelin schools within 5 km of breeding sites. Along the Newfoundland coastline, aggregations occurred within 15 km of the colonies, and at an offshore ridge about 80 km southeast of the colonies. Despite these large foraging radii, waters close to the colony were the most frequent destination of feeding birds. This was particularly true during chick rearing , when only one third of feeding trips could have exceeded 10 km from the colony5. In Pribilof Islands, Alaska, birds showed a consistent preference for shallower waters7. High densities of foraging birds have also been observed foraging over a submarine ridge8. In Kachemak Bay, Alaska, it appears that birds tend to feed over rocky substrates in water depths of about 18 to 55 m9. They have also been observed to forage in riptides4, and in areas of sandy sediment suitable for sandeels10,11. Near Flamborough Head , UK, the Farallones, California, and Pribilof Islands, Alaska, birds forage at fronts between thermally distinct bodies of water. In the UK example, this occurs at a seasonally-occuring front between thermally-mixed and thermally-stratified water, whereas in the Farallones, the front was between cold and salty upwellings and estuarine outflow11,12.

[1].

List of Habitats :

•     9     Marine Neritic   
  
•     9.1     Marine Neritic - Pelagic   
  
•     9.2     Marine Neritic - Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs   
  
•     9.3     Marine Neritic - Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel   
  
•     9.4     Marine Neritic - Subtidal Sandy   
  
•     9.5     Marine Neritic - Subtidal Sandy-Mud   
  
•     9.7     Marine Neritic - Macroalgal/Kelp   
  
•     9.9     Marine Neritic - Seagrass (Submerged)   
  
•     10     Marine Oceanic   
  
•     10.1     Marine Oceanic - Epipelagic (0-200m)   
  
•     10.2     Marine Oceanic - Mesopelagic (200-1000m)   
  
•     13     Marine Coastal/Supratidal   
  
•     13.1     Marine Coastal/Supratidal - Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands   
[more info]

Biology

Diet

Mostly: Fish. Lesser Quantities of: Aquatic Invertebrates .

Reproduction

• Clutch Size: 1
• Length of Incubation : 32-33(30-35) days
• Days to Fledge : 19-21+
• Number of Broods: 1

Migration

Nonmigratory

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Uria aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 24-Jun-1996

Similar Species

Thick-Billed Murre, Razorbill

Members of the genus Uria

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 12 species and subspecies in this genus:

U. aalge (California Guillemot) · U. aalge aalge (Common Murre) · U. aalge albionis (Atlantic Murre) · U. aalge californica (Common Murre) · U. aalge hyperborea (Common Murre) · U. aalge ibericus (Iberian Guillemot) · U. aalge inornata (Common Murre) · U. lomvia (Br?nnich's Guillemot) · U. lomvia arra (Thick-Billed Murre) · U. lomvia eleonorae (Br) · U. lomvia heckeri (Br) · U. lomvia lomvia (Thick-Billed Murre)

More Info

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Further Reading

• An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) / Stewart I. Fefer and Patricia S. Schettig: principal investigators. Newton Corner, Mass.: Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region, 1980. url , , p. 4.
• Annual report of the Marine Mammal Commission: a report to Congress. Washington, D.C.: The Commission, url p. 156.
• Beached marine birds and mammals of the North American West Coast: a manual for their census and identification / by David G. Ainley. .. [et al.] Pt. Reyes Bird Observatory; with drawings by Helen C. Strong; performed for National Coastal Ecosystems Team, Office of Biological Services, Fish and Wildlife Service [Washington, D.C.]: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., [1980] url p. 206.
• Biodiversity trends and threats in Europe: development and test of a species trend indicator RIVM, UNEP-WCMC url p. 44, p. 65.
• Biology and conservation of the common murre in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia / editors, David A. Manuwal. .. [et al.]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, [2001]- url , p. 2, p. 22, p. 23, p. 24, p. 25, p. 26, p. 27, p. 28, p. 29, p. 30, p. 31, p. 32, p. 35, p. 71, p. 76, p. 77, p. 78, p. 84, p. 87.
• Birds of Oregon, by Ira N. Gabrielson. .. and Stanley G. Jewett. .. Corvallis, Or., Pub. by Oregon State College through the O.S.C. Cooperative Association[c1940] url , p. 309.
• Birds of the Chukchi Peninsula and Wrangel Island = (Ptitsy Chukotskogo poluostrova i ostrova Vrangelya) / L.A. Portenko; translated from Russian [by P.M. Rao]. New Delhi: Published for the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., by Amerind Pub. Co., 1981- url p. 334, p. 98.
• British birds. London, Witherby & Co. url p. 322, p. 333.
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• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 109 1953 Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url p. 623, index, p. [637]-656, page 637.
• Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences Los Angeles, Calif.: The Academy, 1971- url , p. 11, p. 2, p. 3, p. 7, p. 8.
• California fish and game. [San Francisco, etc.]: State of California, Resources Agency, Dept. of Fish and Game. url p. 185.
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• Catalog of California seabird colonies / by Arthur L. Sowls. .. [et al.]. Washington, D.C.: Coastal Ecosystems Project, Office of Biological Services, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior: 1980. url p. 344, p. 40, p. iii.
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• Draft environmental impact statement prepared on the proposed Point Reyes/Farallon Islands Marine Sanctuary / Washington: The Office, 1980. url p. 38.
• Ecology and conservation of the marbled murrelet / [technical editors, C. John Ralph. .. et al.]. Albany, Calif.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, [1995] url p. 106, p. 12, p. 124, p. 229, p. 250, p. 256, p. 258, p. 272, p. 292, p. 323, p. 336, p. 34, p. 350, p. 389, p. 396, p. 413, p. 83.
• Engineering and ecological evaluation of artificial-island design, Rincon Island, Punta Gorda, California / by James M. Keith and Roger E. Skjei (Biota appendix by William L. Brisby). Fort Belvoir, Va.: U.S. Coastal Engineering Research Center, 1974. url p. 73.
• Exposure of marine birds to environmental pollutants / by Harry M. Ohlendorf, Robert W. Risebrough, Kees Vermeer. Washington: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1978. url .
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. url p. 45, p. 77, p. 79.
• Fauna of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula, by Olaus J. Murie. Invertebrates and fishes collected in the Aleutians, 1936-38, by Victor B. Scheffer. Washington, Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1959 url , p. 182, p. 359.
• Fishery bulletin / U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service: url p. 279, p. 285, p. 718, p. 963.
• Fishery circular / U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Fisheries. [Washington]: The Bureau, 1931-1939. url p. 24.
• Fleas, flukes & cuckoos; a study of bird parasites, by Miriam Rothschild and Theresa Clay. New York, Macmillan, 1957. url p. 289, p. 305.
• General function of the gall bladder from the evolutionary standpoint, by Frank W. Gorham and Andrew Conway Ivy. 22 1938 Chicago, 1938. url p. 184.
• Journal of ethnobiology. 1 1981 Flagstaff, Ariz.: Center for Western Studies, 1981- url p. 35.
• Life histories of North American diving birds; order Pygopodes. New York, Dodd, Mead, 1946. url p. 182.
• Manual of elementary zoology. London, Oxford University Press, 1958. url p. 767.
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Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2009. Uria aalge. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 05February2012.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 27, 2007:

• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Royal British Columbia Museum
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• New Brunswick Museum, NBM birds
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Joint Nature Conservation Committee - Seabird 2000
• UK National Biodiversity Network, RSPB - Seabird nearshore winter survey in South-West England in 1994/95

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 8410
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-176975
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 2481685
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 176974
• IUCN ID: 248025
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNNN02010
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 13017

Footnotes

1. BirdLife International 2009. Uria aalge. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 05 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.