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Common murre/guillemot (Uria aalge) Colonies at the bottom of the cliffs in Sunburgh Head (Shetland I., 2013)<br />
Guillemots are 38-45 cm in size. They nest in colonies on cliff edges. Their eggs are pear-shaped so they don&acute;t roll off. The bridled form has a white ring round the eye, which looks like a pair of spectacles (you can see some of them like this if you look closely). The spectacles like form is not a distinct subspecies, but a polymorphism that becomes more common the farther north the birds breed. Common Murre,Geotagged,United Kingdom,Uria aalge Click/tap to enlarge

Common murre/guillemot (Uria aalge)

Colonies at the bottom of the cliffs in Sunburgh Head (Shetland I., 2013)
Guillemots are 38-45 cm in size. They nest in colonies on cliff edges. Their eggs are pear-shaped so they don´t roll off. The bridled form has a white ring round the eye, which looks like a pair of spectacles (you can see some of them like this if you look closely). The spectacles like form is not a distinct subspecies, but a polymorphism that becomes more common the farther north the birds breed.

    comments (1)

  1. Nice shot, and I love the small little details you're putting in the description, quite educational. Posted 9 years ago

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The Common Murre or Common Guillemot is a large auk. It is also known as the Thin-billed Murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North-Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands.

Similar species: Shorebirds And Allies
Species identified by Patomarazul
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By Patomarazul

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Uploaded Jan 24, 2016. Captured in Unnamed Road, Shetland, Shetland Islands ZE3 9JN, UK.