Bird Sightings: Razorbill

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Bird Sightings : Hebrides : Razorbill

Razorbill

Alca torda

Gaelic: Coltraiche, Làmhaidh

Photography © Debbie Bozkurt
Stornoway - Isle of Lewis - Outer Hebrides (Western Isles)
4th July, 2008

"Great find this morning in the harbour, in about 100 yards of each other, Guillemots, Razorbills and a beautiful Northern Diver, the light and sun was so strong it was difficult to get good pictures but I had a go ... Here is a slightly out of focus Razorbill, kept diving and then went altogether before I could get a good picture and then a couple of nice Northern Divers

I tried to get a picture of the Diver with a fish in his mouth, just when I lined one up beautifully look what happened! Not sure who was most surprised about losing his brunch the Diver or me!"

Our Razorbill photographs:

Razorbill
June

Razorbill
July

Razorbill
with puffins

Razorbill
Raft

Razorbill

Alca torda

UK: Migrant/Resident Breeder, Winter Visitor. 164,000 birds (Summer) BTO . See from breeding cliffs & sea-watching points

Breeding: Large colonies. Laying a single large egg on bare rock or ground. Islands, rocky shores & cliffs on North Atlantic coasts including Scotland. Also East North America. N &W Europe. NW Russia.

Winters: Eurasian birds winter in N Atlantic nr breeding grounds. Some head south to western Mediterranean.

Habitat: Coastal cliffs, otherwise at sea (pelagic) nr breeding grounds

Diet: Forages for food by swimming underwater. Fish, especially sandeels, sprats and herrings, some invertebrates

Medium-sized seabird (38-43cm length). Black above, white below. (In winter black face becomes white). Thick black, bill with blunt end. Pointed tail. Birds only come to shore to breed

Typical lifespan 13yrs. Max recorded age 14yrs 11mths

Listen to a Razorbill (RSPB site)

Similar birds Guillemot, Puffin

Both partners of a razorbill pair take turns about in foraging, and caring for the egg or young. Whilst the egg is incubating the non-sitting parent will forage to feed up to 35 miles to to sea, but when the egg hatches they forage much closer - up to 7 miles away.

Razorbills nest in large colonies. They lay a single large egg, the eggs all have different patterns to each other - it is thought that this is to help the parents identify their own egg.

The collective name for razorbills and other auks is a raft, colony, flock of auks.

Debbie's online photo album

Other local bird photographs

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