Common Guillemot
by
Shop
Uria aalge
Locally abundant breeding residents of 1.3 million birds in Britain & are rare in Winter.
Also breeds in North West Europe & North America.
They are known as Common Murres in North America.
Breeding Adults have black on the head, back and wings, and has white underparts.
It has a thin dark pointed bill and a small rounded black tail.
In Winter, the face is white with a dark spur behind the eye, and there are often dark streaks on the flanks.
Some individuals in the North Atlantic, known as "Bridled Guillemots", have a white ring around the eye extending back as a white line.
Their calls including a soft purring noise, but the main call of the Adults, often deafening at large colonies, is a growling "murrrr".