Uria lomvia (BrĂ¼nnich's Guillemot)

Scientific name: Uria lomvia (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bird group: Auks

Field characters. 42 cm. Slightly larger than Guillemot, with an even fuller chest and a shorter and thicker bill (more like Black Guillemot). Bill has a white line on the edge of the upper mandible, but a pale line can occur also on the bill of Guillemots. In summer plumage looks very much like Guillemot, but flanks are white and the white on the chest ends in an upward point onto the brown throat. In winter, head pattern looks more like Razorbill than Guillemot, but with dark cheek (beware of moulting Guillemots).

Voice. Only in breeding colonies, growling like in Guillemot.

Distribution. Common in high arctic.

Habitat. Breeds on steep rocky cliffs. In winter at sea.

Food. Chiefly fish, but also takes some invertebrates.

%LABEL% (%SOURCE%)