Common Guillemot chick
The Common Guillemot, also known as the Common Murre or Thin-billed Murre, is a large species of auk. The auks are a family of seabirds which includes the Brunnich's Guillemot or Thick-billed Murre, Razorbill, Little Auk and the extinct Great Auk.
The Common Guillemot is 15 to 18 inches in length with a 24 to 29 inches wingspan. In breeding plumage, it is black or dark brown on the head, back and wings with white underparts. It has a thin dark pointed bill and a small rounded dark tail. Legs are grey and the bill is dark grey. Males and females are identical. Some individuals in the North Atlantic, known as "Bridled Guillemots", have a white ring around the eye extending back as a white line. This is not a distinct subspecies but a polymorphism that becomes more common the farther north the birds breed.
The Common Guillemot flies with fast wing beats and has a flight speed of around 50 mph. Groups of birds are often seen flying together in a line just above the surface of the sea. However, it is not a very agile bird and take-off is often difficult. The Common Guillemot becomes flightless for 45 to 60 days while moulting its primary feathers.
The Common Guillemot is a pursuit diver that forages for food by swimming underwater using its wings for propulsion. Dives usually last less than one minute but the bird swims underwater for distances of over 100 feet on a regular basis. Diving depths up to 590 feet have been recorded.
The Common Guillemot has a circumpolar distribution and it occurs in low Arctic and boreal waters in the north Atlantic and north Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea and only comes to land to breed on rocky cliffs, sea stacks and islands. Some birds are permanent residents but northern birds migrate south to open waters off New England, southern California, Japan, Korea and the western Mediterranean.
The Common Guillemot breeds in colonies at high densities and nesting pairs may be in bodily contact with their neighbours. No nest is made and the single egg is laid and incubated on a bare rock ledge on a cliff face. The egg hatches after 30 days incubation and the chick is born downy and can regulate its body temperature after 10 days. Some 20 days after hatching the chick jumps off its nesting ledge and heads for the sea unable to fly but gliding for some distance with fluttering wings and accompanied by its male parent. The chicks are capable of diving as soon as they hit the water. The female stays at the nest site for some 14 days after the chick has left.
The Common Guillemot can venture far from its breeding grounds to forage and distances of 60 miles or more are often observed although if sufficient food is available closer by, birds will only travel much shorter distances. It mainly eats small schooling fish 8 inches long or less such as Polar Cod, Capelin, Sand Lances, Sprats, Sandeels, Atlantic Cod and Atlantic Herring. It also eats some molluscs, marine worms, squid and crustaceans. It is often seen carrying fish in its bill with the tail hanging out.
Date: 12th June 2014
Location: Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland
The Common Guillemot is 15 to 18 inches in length with a 24 to 29 inches wingspan. In breeding plumage, it is black or dark brown on the head, back and wings with white underparts. It has a thin dark pointed bill and a small rounded dark tail. Legs are grey and the bill is dark grey. Males and females are identical. Some individuals in the North Atlantic, known as "Bridled Guillemots", have a white ring around the eye extending back as a white line. This is not a distinct subspecies but a polymorphism that becomes more common the farther north the birds breed.
The Common Guillemot flies with fast wing beats and has a flight speed of around 50 mph. Groups of birds are often seen flying together in a line just above the surface of the sea. However, it is not a very agile bird and take-off is often difficult. The Common Guillemot becomes flightless for 45 to 60 days while moulting its primary feathers.
The Common Guillemot is a pursuit diver that forages for food by swimming underwater using its wings for propulsion. Dives usually last less than one minute but the bird swims underwater for distances of over 100 feet on a regular basis. Diving depths up to 590 feet have been recorded.
The Common Guillemot has a circumpolar distribution and it occurs in low Arctic and boreal waters in the north Atlantic and north Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea and only comes to land to breed on rocky cliffs, sea stacks and islands. Some birds are permanent residents but northern birds migrate south to open waters off New England, southern California, Japan, Korea and the western Mediterranean.
The Common Guillemot breeds in colonies at high densities and nesting pairs may be in bodily contact with their neighbours. No nest is made and the single egg is laid and incubated on a bare rock ledge on a cliff face. The egg hatches after 30 days incubation and the chick is born downy and can regulate its body temperature after 10 days. Some 20 days after hatching the chick jumps off its nesting ledge and heads for the sea unable to fly but gliding for some distance with fluttering wings and accompanied by its male parent. The chicks are capable of diving as soon as they hit the water. The female stays at the nest site for some 14 days after the chick has left.
The Common Guillemot can venture far from its breeding grounds to forage and distances of 60 miles or more are often observed although if sufficient food is available closer by, birds will only travel much shorter distances. It mainly eats small schooling fish 8 inches long or less such as Polar Cod, Capelin, Sand Lances, Sprats, Sandeels, Atlantic Cod and Atlantic Herring. It also eats some molluscs, marine worms, squid and crustaceans. It is often seen carrying fish in its bill with the tail hanging out.
Date: 12th June 2014
Location: Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland
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Also in: Auks
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