murre

Definition

Any seabird of the genus Uria in the family Alcidae (the auks).

Etymology

Unknown, possibly imitative of the birds' call.

Example Sentences

• "It may be that in one year alone, the Farallon murre population was reduced to the level at which it stood during the mid-1990s"
• "1997, Robert Wayne Campbell, Neil K. Dawe, The Birds of British Columbia, Volume 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal birds of prey through woodpeckers, page 296, About 2,800 pairs of Common Murres breed in the province, most of which are in the Scott Islands off northwestern Vancouver Island."
• "2000, Susan Allport, The Primal Feast: Food, Sex, Foraging, and Love, 2003, paperback, page 52, Staking out a spot involves not only the appropriate level of murre aggression (some murres are so aggressive that they throw their mates off the ledge) but, even more fundamentally, the ability to find food efficiently."

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