Uria — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Genus of birds}} {{Other uses|Uria (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect-distinguish|Murre|Murree}} {{For|ships named ''Murre''|MV Murre|NOAAS Murre II}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Late Miocene|present}} | image = ThickbilledMurre23.jpg | image_caption = Common murre between two thick-billed murres | taxon = Uria | authority = Brisson, 1760 | type_species = ''Colymbus aalge'' | type_species_authority = Pontoppidan, 1763 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = ''Uria aalge'' ''Uria lomvia'' }}

'''''Uria''''' is a genus of seabirds in the auk family known in Europe as '''guillemots''' (a name also used for the genus ''Cepphus''), and in North America as '''murres'''. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding season. They breed on the coasts of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

==Taxonomy== The genus ''Uria'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the common murre (''Uria aalge'') as the type species.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | language=fr, la | at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010452 Vol. 1, p. 52], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36210896 Vol. 6, p. 70] | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=352 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483165 }}</ref> The genus is related to the razorbill, little auk, and the extinct great auk; these together make up the tribe Alcini. Despite the shared common name guillemot, they are not so closely related to the guillemots in the genus ''Cepphus'', which form the tribe Cepphini.

==Etymology== The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''ouria'', a waterbird mentioned by Athenaeus.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page = 396}}</ref> The English name "guillemot" is of French origin, first attested by Pierre Belon in 1555, but derived from Old (11th century) French ''willelm'', and matched by English variants ''willock'' (attested 1631), ''willick'', ''will'' and ''wilkie'', all from forms of the name William, cf. {{langx|fr|Guillaume}}, but ultimately onomatopoeic from the loud, high-pitched "''will'', ''willem''" begging calls of the newly fledged young of the common guillemot.<ref name="Lockwood">{{cite book|last = Lockwood| first = W. B.|title = Oxford Book of British Bird Names|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 1984}}</ref><ref>[https://xeno-canto.org/449652 External audio]: growling "murre" calls of adult, and "willem" calls of young, common guillemots, at xeno-canto</ref><ref>"Guillemot, n., etymology of" ''[http://dictionary.oed.com/ The Oxford English Dictionary]''. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed Dec 17, 2007</ref> 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.<ref name="Lockwood"/> In Newfoundland and Labrador the local name "turr" is also used.<ref>{{cite web | last=Smith | first=Craig S. | title=Hunting 'Turr' in Newfoundland's Frigid Waters | website=The New York Times | date=2016-12-04 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/04/world/americas/hunting-turr-in-newfoundland-frigid-waters.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329183223/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/04/world/americas/hunting-turr-in-newfoundland-frigid-waters.html | archive-date=2017-03-29 | url-status=live | access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref>

===Extant species=== The genus contains two species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2025 | title=Noddies, gulls, terns, auks | work=World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/gulls/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=28 November 2025 }}</ref> {{Species table |genus=Uria |authority-name=Brisson|authority-year= 1760 |species-count=two|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row |name=Common murre or common guillemot|binomial=Uria aalge |image=File:Guillemot - Uria aalge (52932771519).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year= 1758|authority-not-original=yes |range= 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. |range-image=File:Uria aalge map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status=LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Five subspecies |bullets=on |''U. a. aalge'' |''U. a. albionis'' |''U. a. hyperborea'' |''U. a. inornata'' |''U. a. californica''' }} }}

{{Species table/row |name=Thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot|binomial=Uria lomvia |image=File:Uria lomvia5.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year= 1758|authority-not-original=yes |range= Northern Hemisphere |range-image=File:Uria lomvia map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Four subspecies |bullets=on |''U. l. lomvia'' – (Linnaeus, 1758) |''U. l. eleonorae'' – (Portenko, 1937) |''U. l. heckeri'' – (Portenko, 1944) |''U. l. arra'' – (Pallas, 1811) }} }}

=== Fossils === [[File:Bulletin (1971-) (19800542534).jpg|thumb|286x286px|''Uria brodkorbi'', a fossil murre from the Monterey Formation of southern California]] Some prehistoric ''Uria'' species are also known: * ''Uria bordkorbi'' Howard, 1981 (Monterey or Sisquoc, Late Miocene of Lompoc, USA) * ''Uria affinis'' (Marsh, 1872) (Late Pleistocene of E USA) - possibly a subspecies of ''U. lomvia'' * ''Uria paleohesperis'' Howard, 1982 (Late Miocene of W USA) * ''Uria onoi'' Watanabe, Matsuoka & Hasegawa, 2016 (Middle-Late Pleistocene of Japan)

''U. brodkorbi'' is notable insofar as it is the only known occurrence of the Alcini tribe in the temperate to subtropical Pacific, except for the very fringe of the range of ''U. aalge''. It suggests that the ''Uria'' species, which are the sister taxon to all the other Alcini, and like them are usually believed to have evolved in the Atlantic, may have evolved in the Caribbean or possibly close to the Isthmus of Panama. The modern Pacific distribution would then be part of a later arctic expansion, whereas most other auk lineages form clades with a continuous range in the Pacific, from arctic to subtropical waters.

==Description== These birds breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs, laying single elongated conical eggs directly on cliff ledges. They move 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 on fish and crustaceans, also some molluscs.<ref name="Piatt">{{cite journal |journal=The Auk |volume=102 |pages=293–297 | last1=Piatt | first1=John F. | last2=Nettleship | first2=David N. | title=Diving Depths of Four Alcids | year=1985 | url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/auk/vol102/iss2/7/ | access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=What can you tell me about diving sea birds? | website=The Icelandic Web of Science | url=https://www.why.is/svar.php?id=5696 | language=is | access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/murre/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121020513/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/murre/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 21, 2010|title=Thick-billed Murres, Thick-billed Murre Pictures, Thick-billed Murre Facts - National Geographic|last=National Geographic Society}}</ref>

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).<ref name="Cramp">{{cite book | last=Cramp | first=Stanley | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa Volume IV: Terns to Woodpeckers | publisher=Oxford University Press | publication-place=Oxford London New York | date=1985 | isbn=0-19-857507-6 | pages=170–195}}</ref><ref name="Svensson">{{cite book | last1=Svensson | first1=Lars | last2=Mullarney | first2=Killian | last3=Zetterstroem | first3=Dan | title=Collins Bird Guide | publisher=William Collins | date=2023-03-16 | isbn=978-0-00-854746-2 | page=218 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Cramp"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Uria}}

Category:Uria Category:Bird genera