# Common murre (*Uria aalge*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-murre  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common murre (Uria aalge), also called the guillemot or common guillemot, is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory, marine bird and an aquatic predator, with an adult body mass of 991.9 g and a wingspan of 70.7 cm. It lays 1 egg per clutch and 1 clutch per year, the egg is incubated for 31.7 days, and it reaches sexual maturity at 5 years. The IUCN Red List assesses the common murre as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 1,547,000 km².

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 991.9 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 70.7 cm |
| Lifespan | 29.6 years – 42.8 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Egg incubation | 31.7 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 5 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Charadriiformes
- family: Alcidae
- genus: Uria
- species: *Uria aalge* (Pontoppidan, 1763)

Synonyms: *Uria aalge troile*, *Uria alga*, *Uria troile*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common murre?

The common murre is a bird in the family Alcidae, order Charadriiformes.

### How heavy is a common murre?

An adult common murre weighs 991.9 g, with reported values from 985 g to 997.2 g.

### What does the common murre eat?

The common murre is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.

### Is the common murre endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List lists the common murre as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a common murre live?

The common murre has a lifespan of 29.6 years, and our sources report values up to 42.8 years.

### How many eggs does a common murre lay?

The common murre lays 1 egg per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 31.7 days.

### Does the common murre migrate?

Yes, the common murre is migratory. Its habitat is marine.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Common murre (Uria aalge). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-murre