Common Murre Lifer

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

While hubby and I were vacationing on the Oregon coastline we stopped at the Cape Meares Scenic viewpoint. Cape Meares provide a view of the largest colony of nesting Common Murres. Another lifer for me the Common Murre is also known as the Common Guillemot. The Common Murre is in the family commonly called Alcids. The Thick Billed Murre is also in the Alcidae "Alcids"  family.

The Common Murre is an Alcid that dives for their prey. They use their wings and their feet for propulsion and steering. The Common Murre has a thin bill. It has a black head, back and wings and white underparts.The face is white with a dark spur behind the eye.

The Pyramid and Pillar rocks are part of the Oregon Island National Wildlife Refuge. I was able to zoom in few a few closeups. But the photos of the Common Murre are fuzzy.

The Common Murre breed in colonies in high densities, nesting pairs maybe in bodily contact with their neighbors. They do not make a nest, their egg is incubated on a bare rock ledge.

The Three Arch Rocks provide habitat for more than 200,000 nesting seabirds, primarily the Common Murre.

The vertical seacliffs support nesting seabirds such as the Tufted Puffin, Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Pelagic Cormorants, Peregrine Falcons and the Bald Eagle.

A fuzzy shot of a few of the Common Murre in the ocean.
It was an amazing sight to see so many of these Common Murres in one spot. Zooming in on any one spot on the rock I could see how close the birds were to each. The Murres and other birds were sitting on just about on every spot of the rock. It was an amazing sight to see, if you are in the area I highly recommend visiting Cape Meares.

To see more wonderful birds and photos please visit Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes