Common Murre

Uria aalge

Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Alcidae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
Protection in Spain: In danger of extinction (Reproductora) · Spanish Catalogue
In Spanish: Arao común

Photograph: Diego González Dopico, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 38–45 cm
Wingspan: 64–73 cm
Weight: 860 g

Presence in the Strait

Pelagic, accidental. Six records: at Gibraltar on 1.03.80 (1), 7.03.80 (3), 10.03.80 (1) and 1.04.80 (12); one dead bird at Los Lances beach on 7.01.86 and one bird at Ceuta on 2.10.98.

Identification

Like a Razorbill but dark brown, white patch on ear-coverts with a black line across and longer and sharper bill. In flight, projecting feet.

Ring recoveries

United Kingdom (1). They breed along the coasts of N Europe.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

25 %

Peak in April. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 8 February 1995
Latest record: 14 January 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List) (No reproductora) · In danger of extinction (Reproductora)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: CR · Critically endangered · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Annex I of the Birds Directive

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Where they come from

1 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

United Kingdom1

See the journey on the map

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Alcidae
GBIF taxon key: 2481342

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Diego González Dopico, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Common Murre

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Ring recoveries

Gallery