The Common Murre Uria aalge is one of the species in the family "alcidae" which includes the murres, murrelets, auks, auklets and puffins Birders refer to them as "alcids" and one can think of them as the northern hemisphere equivalents of the southern hemispheres penguins.
Like many of the alcids, the Common Murre nests on rocky cliffs, has an egg shape that is tapered at one end so that if they roll on the rocky surface they go in circles rather than roll off the cliff, and when the young fledge they are simply pushed off the cliff to fall into the water.
After fledging the baby Common Murre is cared for by its father until it is independent.
Here is a father Common Murre with a chick at sea.
Common Murres generally nest in offshore islands with rocky cliffs, and nest is large colonies. In the past that put them at risk from egg-gathering humans who raided their colonies, a practice that has been made illegal now and is not commonly practiced.
It is fairly common for me to see a Common Murre from land in the Puget Sound area of Washington where I live, though usually they are seen at great distance.
Our Tuften Puffin is another of the alcids seen in Washington.
Good birding!
