Common Murre (also known as the Common Guillemot)

The Common Murre is a large, colonial auk with dark chocolate-brown or black head, back, and upperparts, contrasting sharply with clean white underparts. They have a pointed bill and dark legs. Often compared to penguins in appearance and posture due to their upright stance, though they are entirely unrelated and capable of powerful flight.

Striking bicolored pattern with a deep glossy black or dark brownish-black tip sharply demarcated from a stark white base and margins.

Upper portion is densely pennaceous with tightly interlocked barbicels for waterproofing, while the lower portion transitions into a fluffy plumulaceous downy structure with no pronounced afterfeather.

Central rachis is slender, dark near the tip, and transitions to white near the calamus, with tightly packed barbs set at a moderate angle.

Smooth, glossy, and firm at the distal end to shed water effectively, with a soft, downy texture near the base.

Body contour feather, likely from the upper back or scapular tract, identified by its stiff water-resistant tip and fluffy basal region.

Sharp color boundary between the glossy dark black-brown tip and the pure white base, combined with the dense, water-repellent structure typical of alcid contour feathers.

Marine environments, open ocean, rocky coastal cliffs, islands, and foraging waters during the breeding and non-breeding seasons.

Circumpolar distribution across subarctic and boreal waters of the Northern Hemisphere, spanning both the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans.

Important marine apex predator and forage fish consumer, serving as a key ecological indicator of ocean health and marine food web stability.

Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia), Razorbill (Alca torda), and Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), distinguished by subtle differences in feather dimensions, color tone, and geographic origin.

Common Murres lay single, highly pointed pear-shaped eggs on bare rock ledges; the unique shape prevents the egg from rolling off cliff edges, spinning in a tight circle instead if disturbed.

Historically, murre eggs and meat were heavily harvested by coastal human populations and sailors, leading to significant population declines in the 19th century.

Look near rocky sea cliffs, breeding colonies, or washed ashore along northern oceanic beaches following storms.

Good condition with intact barbs at the pennaceous tip, though some slight fraying is visible along the lower plumulaceous barbs.