Common Murre - - (Uria aalge)

Wildlife Note Card Photography by Steven Holt

Highly colonial, Common Murres nest by the tens of thousands on northern sea cliffs over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Murre pairs engage in elaborate greeting displays and affectionately preen each other. An arriving murre will repeatedly bow to its mate and neighbors to avoid being attacked and thrown off the cliff as a trespasser. Neighboring murres will bow in response until the entire ledge resembles a butler’s convention in black-tie. Female murres lay a single, conical egg directly on the rock. Simple geometry is the primary barrier between the egg on the narrow ledge and the crashing ocean hundreds of feet below: If disturbed, the egg rolls in place, circling tightly around its own nearly pointed end. Murres are accomplished divers and can stay underwater for more than three minutes. Flapping their wings underwater to propel themselves, they have been recorded at a maximum dive depth of 180 meters (nearly two football fields) below the water’s surface.

Special thanks to Keith Iding for scanning the cards.