Common Guillemot
Uria aalge
Where is it found?
Coastal
Diet and foraging method
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Swim on the surface of the sea before diving down in pursuit of a fish supper. Guillemots use their wings underwater to swim at great speeds.
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Key adaptations
Long slender beak and streamlined body shape enable guillemots to swim fast underwater.
Their dark colouring on top and white underneath help them to be camouflaged from predators in the air above or the sea below.
Their dark colouring on top and white underneath help them to be camouflaged from predators in the air above or the sea below.
Social organisation and mating system
Live in large colonies during the breeding season forming great rafts at sea and huddling together in high densities on precarious cliff ledges.
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Form monogamous breeding pairs.
Did you know that...?
Guillemots eggs vary dramatically in colour and patterning, from white to turquoise, to deep red with pencil thin scribblings or dark ink blots on them. Allows different females eggs vary it appears that their is little variation within a single female and she always lays the same kind of egg. This may help her to recognise which egg is hers so she doesn't accidentally incubate the wrong egg when returning to the colony from a fishing trip.
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Common Murre" by Andreas Trepte - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common_Murre.jpg#/media/File:Common_Murre.jpg
"Two storey Guillemots" by neekoh.fi - Two storey GuillemotsUploaded by Markos90. Licenced under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Two_storey_Guillemots.jpg#/media/File:Two_storey_Guillemots.jpg
"Uria aalge MHNT Rouzic" by Didier Descouens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uria_aalge_MHNT_Rouzic.jpg#/media/File:Uria_aalge_MHNT_Rouzic.jpg
"Uria aalge MHNT Box Rouzic" by Didier Descouens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uria_aalge_MHNT_Box_Rouzic.jpg#/media/File:Uria_aalge_MHNT_Box_Rouzic.jpg
"Uria aalge". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uria_aalge.jpg#/media/File:Uria_aalge.jpg
"Common Murre" by Andreas Trepte - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common_Murre.jpg#/media/File:Common_Murre.jpg
"Two storey Guillemots" by neekoh.fi - Two storey GuillemotsUploaded by Markos90. Licenced under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Two_storey_Guillemots.jpg#/media/File:Two_storey_Guillemots.jpg
"Uria aalge MHNT Rouzic" by Didier Descouens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uria_aalge_MHNT_Rouzic.jpg#/media/File:Uria_aalge_MHNT_Rouzic.jpg
"Uria aalge MHNT Box Rouzic" by Didier Descouens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uria_aalge_MHNT_Box_Rouzic.jpg#/media/File:Uria_aalge_MHNT_Box_Rouzic.jpg
"Uria aalge". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uria_aalge.jpg#/media/File:Uria_aalge.jpg
