| Uria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Common murre between twothick-billed murres | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Alcidae |
| Genus: | Uria Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
| Colymbus aalge Pontoppidan, 1763 | |
| Species | |
Uria aalge | |
Uria is a genus ofseabirds in theauk family known inEurope asguillemots (a name also used for the genusCepphus), and inNorth America asmurres. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding season. They breed on the coasts of the northernAtlantic andPacific oceans.
ThegenusUria was introduced by the French zoologistMathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with thecommon murre (Uria aalge) as thetype species.[1][2] The genus is related to therazorbill,little auk, and theextinctgreat auk; these together make up thetribe Alcini. Despite the shared common name guillemot, they are not so closely related to the guillemots in the genusCepphus, which form the tribe Cepphini.
The genus name is fromAncient Greekouria, a waterbird mentioned byAthenaeus.[3] The English name "guillemot" is of French origin, first attested byPierre Belon in 1555, but derived from Old (11th century) Frenchwillelm, and matched by English variantswillock (attested 1631),willick,will andwilkie, all from forms of the nameWilliam, cf.French:Guillaume, but ultimatelyonomatopoeic from the loud, high-pitched "will,willem" begging calls of the newly fledged young of thecommon guillemot.[4][5][6] The American name "murre", also known from England (particularly Cornwall) from the 17th century, is by contrast, onomatopoeic of the growling call of adult common guillemots.[4] InNewfoundland and Labrador the local name "turr" is also used.[7]
The genus contains two species:[8]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common murre or common guillemot
| Uria aalge (Linnaeus, 1758) Five subspecies
| Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, breeding in the Atlantic from northwestern Spain (and formerly Portugal) north to Svalbard, and Nova Scotia north to Greenland, and in the Pacific, from California north to Alaska, and northernmost Japan north to eastern Siberia; additionally wintering a little further south. | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot
| Uria lomvia (Linnaeus, 1758) | Northern Hemisphere | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
_(19800542534).jpg)
Some prehistoricUria species are also known:
U. brodkorbi is notable insofar as it is the only known occurrence of the Alcini tribe in the temperate to subtropicalPacific, except for the very fringe of the range ofU. aalge. It suggests that theUria species, which are thesister taxon to all the other Alcini, and like them are usually believed to have evolved in the Atlantic, may have evolved in theCaribbean or possibly close to theIsthmus of Panama. The modern Pacific distribution would then be part of a laterarctic expansion, whereas most other auk lineages formclades with a continuous range in the Pacific, from arctic to subtropical waters.
These birds breed in largecolonies on coastal cliffs, laying single elongated conicaleggs directly on cliff ledges. Theymove south in winter to keep in ice-free waters.
They dive for food from the surface, swimming underwater and being among the deepest divers of all birds, using their stubby wings to routinely dive to more than 180 metres, and feeding onfish andcrustaceans, also somemolluscs.[9][10][11]
Adult birds are black or brown on the head, neck, back and wings with white underparts. The bill is long and pointed. They have a small rounded black tail. The lower face becomes white in winter.
The flight is strong and direct, and these species have fast wing beats due to the short wings.
Uria guillemots produce a variety of harsh cackling calls at the breeding colonies, but are mostly silent at sea except when still with dependent young for a month or two after leaving the breeding colonies; they are then still very vocal, with young having a high-pitched whistle (see also#Etymology, above).[12][13] The calls are very variable between different individuals, which is important in allowing individual recognition between the young and their parents at sea after leaving the nest, with the adult and the chick recognising each others' individual calls.[12]
Genera ofshorebirds and their extinct allies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
_svg-element.svg)
