The common murre or common guillemot (Uria aalge) is a large auk seabird that can be found across the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Common murres breed in huge colonies on remote cliffs and rocky islands, feeding out at sea on small fish and crustaceans like capelin, herring, sand lance, and krill. With their striking black and white plumage and upright stance, common murres are a classic seabird species recognized by birders around the world. But where exactly can you find common murres? Here’s a quick overview of the key regions and habitats where common murres are found today.
Range and Distribution
Common murres have an extensive global range spanning both the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans. In the Atlantic Ocean, they are found along the coasts of Europe and North America, ranging from the Barents Sea in the northeast Atlantic to the coast of North Carolina in the northwest Atlantic. Their Pacific range extends from Siberia and Alaska down to central California.
Some key subpopulations and breeding sites for common murres include:
- Europe: large breeding colonies in Norway, Britain, Ireland, Iceland, and France.
- Eastern Canada: huge breeding colonies in Newfoundland and Labrador.
- Western North America: major breeding sites along the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands, as well as offshore islands along the Pacific Coast down to central California.
- Russia: large numbers breeding in the Barents Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and around the Kamchatka Peninsula and Commander Islands.
Outside of the breeding season, common murres disperse more widely across subarctic and temperate waters to spend the winter months offshore. Still, their core range remains focused across the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans even in winter.
Breeding Colonies
Common murres nest in extremely dense colonies numbering from tens of thousands to over a million breeding pairs. These massive breeding colonies are located on remote rocky cliffs and islands that offer predator-free nest sites near productive feeding grounds.
Some of the major common murre breeding colonies in the Atlantic include:
- Gannet Islands, Labrador, Canada – over 260,000 pairs
- Funk Island, Newfoundland, Canada – over 400,000 pairs
- Skellig Islands, Ireland – around 22,500 pairs
- Bjørnøya (Bear Island), Norway – over 100,000 pairs
- Hornøya, Norway – around 150,000 pairs
- RUNI, Faroe Islands – around 73,000 pairs
And some key Pacific breeding colonies include:
- St. George Island, Alaska – approximately 653,000 pairs
- Chowiet Island, Alaska – over 200,000 pairs
- St. Lazaria Islands, Alaska – around 230,000 pairs
- Bogoslof Island, Alaska – up to 150,000 pairs
- Triangle Island, British Columbia – around 125,000 pairs
- Farallon Islands, California – approximately 15,000 pairs
Common murres show strong breeding site fidelity, returning to the same colony and even same nest site year after year. Competition for the limited cliffside nesting spots is intense.
Non-Breeding Range
During the non-breeding season from late summer to early spring, common murres leave their cliffside colonies and head out into more pelagic (open ocean) habitats. Some key areas where large numbers of non-breeding common murres congregate include:
- Grand Banks and the Labrador and Newfoundland Shelves in the northwest Atlantic
- North Sea, German Bight, and the waters around Scotland, England, and Ireland in the northeast Atlantic
- Coastal waters of Norway including Vestfjorden and along the Finnmark coast
- Waters of the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands chain in the North Pacific
- Coastal zones extending down British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California in the northeast Pacific
During winter months, adults tend to move further offshore, but remain within several hundred kilometers of their breeding colonies, often concentrating where upwellings and ocean currents converge to aggregate prey. Immature non-breeding birds may disperse more widely outside of the core range.
Key Habitats
Common murres use a variety of marine and coastal habitats during breeding and non-breeding periods. Key habitats include:
Open Oceans
Murres spend most of their lives foraging out on the open oceans, diving down to depths of over 150 meters in search of fish and invertebrates. They prefer areas along continental shelf breaks, seamounts, and upwelling zones where nutrients bring prey within diving range.
Islands and Sea Cliffs
Sheer cliffs and rocky island shores offer safe nesting habitats, protected from terrestrial predators. Colony islands are typically unforested and may have vegetated slopes above the cliffs.
Coastal Waters
Murres frequent inshore and coastal waters during the non-breeding season. They often congregate near points, bays, and estuaries where food availability may be enhanced.
Pack Ice
Some murres may overwinter among marginal pack ice in subarctic and arctic regions, using the ice edges and cracks to access food. But they avoid areas of extensive, dense pack ice.
So in summary, common murres primarily inhabit offshore and coastal waters across the northern Atlantic and Pacific. Their breeding colonies are restricted to remote rocky islands and sea cliffs, while their non-breeding distribution expands into subarctic and temperate marine habitats. Murres are rarely found inland or far from the ocean and their core habitat remains over the continental shelves and slopes of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Population and Conservation Status
Globally, the common murre population is estimated at around 14-18.6 million individuals. However, many populations have undergone significant declines over the past century, primarily due to impacts from overfishing, oil pollution, gillnet bycatch, and introduced predators at nesting colonies.
Here’s an overview of the status and trends for key common murre populations:
Population | Breeding Pairs | Trend |
Northwest Atlantic | 2.6 million | Declining |
Northeast Atlantic | 4.8-5.9 million | Stable or increasing |
Alaska | 2.1 million | Declining but stabilizing |
California Current | 560,000 | Declining |
The common murre remains widespread across the northern Atlantic and Pacific. However, many breeding colonies have been reduced and extirpated over the past century. Murres face a variety of threats at sea and in colonies, and careful management of fisheries and colonies will be needed to conserve populations into the future. Protecting food sources, preventing oil spills, reducing bycatch, and managing gull and mammal predator populations are key priorities for murre conservation.
Conclusion
In summary, common murres are seabirds found across northern oceans in the Atlantic and Pacific. Their breeding distribution is restricted to colonies on offshore islands and cliffs, primarily concentrated in Canada, Norway, Alaska, and Russia. Outside of breeding season, they disperse more widely across coastal and offshore waters of subarctic and temperate regions while overwintering at sea. Common murres frequent pelagic habitats but are also found in coastal zones, using both open oceans and nearshore waters. While still a widespread and numerous seabird, many murre populations face threats from human activities and require continued monitoring and management to maintain healthy numbers into the future.