Common Murre

ocean birds · diving experts · cliff dwellers · arctic waters

Masters of the ocean. Common murres spend almost their entire lives swimming and diving in cold northern waters, only coming back to land when it's time to raise their chicks. They are built for the water with streamlined bodies and legs positioned far back on their bodies for powerful swimming.

Cliff home builders. When breeding season arrives, murres gather by the thousands on rocky cliffs and islands in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. They don't build nests, instead laying a single egg directly on bare rock ledges where their chicks will grow up.

Penguin look-alikes. With their black and white tuxedo coloring, common murres remind many people of penguins, but they are actually auks. Unlike penguins that can't fly, murres are skilled fliers with fast, whirring wing beats.

Deep diving hunters. These birds are incredible divers that plunge deep underwater using their wings to propel themselves after fish and small sea creatures. They can stay underwater for more than a minute hunting for food.

Found all around the north. Common murres live in a circumpolar distribution, meaning they are found around the Arctic in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans wherever there are cold, fish-rich waters.