This is bird note.

The miracle of flight.

That enviable ability is what birds are best known for.

Yet among the nearly 10,000 bird species worldwide, only a few dozen can fly underwater.

The common moor is among them. We most often think of the penguins of southern latitudes as underwater flyers par excellence.

In the northern hemisphere, it's the family of seabirds called

Alsids or aks that wing their way under the marine surface.

Puffins, Murlet's, Gilamots, and common murs are all underwater flyers.

When flying above the water, the 18 inch long common murs must flap frantically to stay aloft.

But beneath the waves, using their flipper-like wings, they are streamlined, masterful swimmers, black and white torpedoes chasing fish even at depths of several hundred feet.

To reduce drag, the mr holds its wings only partly extended, flying through the submarine world with powerful strokes.

Several hundred feet under the water.

Amazing, isn't it? For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann.

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