COMMON MURRE

Common Murre

Rob Suryan, Amanda Gladics

Latin name: Uria aalge

Common murres are the most abundant breeding seabird in Oregon, with over half a million individuals. Dr. Rob Suryan and students in his lab have worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to show how the recovery of bald eagles have drastically affected murre populations on the Oregon coast. Their studies have also shown how changes in ocean conditions on the west coast of North America have affected the diet and reproductive success of murres.

Did you know? These 2lb (950g) birds are capable of diving over 500 ft deep!

Publications: 

Bjorkstedt, E. P., R. Goericke, S. McClatchie, E. Weber, W. Watson, N. Lo, W. T. Peterson, R. D. Brodeur, T. Auth, J. Fisher, C. Morgan, J. Peterson, J. Largier, S. J. Bograd, R. Durazo, G. Gaxiola-Castro, B. Lavaniegos, F. P. Chavez, C. A. Collins, B. Hannah, J. Field, K. Sakuma, W. Satterthwaite, M. O'Farrell, S. Hayes, J. Harding, W. J. Sydeman, S. A. Thompson, P. Warzybok, R. Bradley, J. Jahncke, R. T. Golightly, S. R. Schneider, R. M. Suryan, A. J. Gladics, C. A. Horton, S. Y. Kim, S. R. Melin, R. L. DeLong, and J. Abell. 2012. State of the California Current 2011-2012: Ecosystems respond to local forcing as La Niňa wavers and wanes. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Reports 53:41-76.

Gladics, A. J., R. M. Suryan, R. D. Brodeur, L. M. Segui, and L. Z. Filliger. 2014. Constancy and change in marine predator diets across a shift in oceanographic conditions in the Northern California Current. Marine Biology 161:837-851.

Gladics, A. J., R. M. Suryan, J. K. Parrish, C. A. Horton, E. A. Daly, and W. T. Peterson. 2015. Environmental drivers and reproductive consequences of variation in the diet of a marine predator. Journal of Marine Systems 146:72-81.

Horton, C. A., and R. M. Suryan. 2012. Brown Pelicans: A new disturbance source to breeding Common Murres in Oregon? Oregon Birds 38:84-88.

Leising, A. W., I. D. Schroeder, S. J. Bograd, J. Abell, R. Durazo, G. Gaxiola-Castro, E. P. Bjorkstedt, J. Field, K. Sakuma, R. R. Robertson, R. Goericke, W. T. Peterson, R. D. Brodeur, C. Barceló, T. Auth, E. A. Daly, R. M. Suryan, A. J. Gladics, J. M. Porquez, S. McClatchie, E. D. Weber, W. Watson, J. A. Santora, W. J. Sydeman, S. R. Melin, F. P. Chavez, R. T. Golightly, S. R. Schneider, J. Fisher, C. Morgan, R. Bradley, and P. Warzybok. 2015. State of the California Current 2014-2015: Impacts of the warm-water “Blob”. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Reports 56:31-68.

McClatchie, S., R. Goericke, A. Leising, T. Auth, E. P. Bjorkstedt, R. R. Robertson, R. D. Brodeur, X. Du, E. A. Daly, C. A. Morgon, F. P. Chavez, A. J. Debich, J. Hilderbrand, J. Field, K. Sakuma, M. G. Jacox, M. Kahru, R. Kudela, C. Anderson, B. E. Lavaniegos, J. Gomez-Valdes, S. P. A. Jiménez-Rosenberg, R. McCabe, S. R. Melin, M. D. Ohman, L. M. Sala, B. Peterson, J. Fisher, I. D. Schroeder, S. J. Bograd, E. L. Hazen, S. R. Schneider, R. T. Golightly, R. M. Suryan, A. J. Gladics, S. L. Loredo, J. M. Porquez, A. R. Thompson, E. D. Weber, W. Watson, V. Trainer, P. Warzybok, R. Bradley, and J. Jahncke. 2016. State of the California Current 2015-2016: Comparisons with the 1997-98 El Niño. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Reports 57:1-57.

Gladics et al. 2014 Marine Biology, Gladics et al. 2015 Journal of Marine Systems