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  Profile

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  In flight

Seabirds

Razorbill

Alca torda

• rare
• 55 km/h
• Least Concern

Closest living relative of the extinct Great Auk. Carries that legacy in a heavy black-and-white bill.

Population

838,000-1,660,000 mature individuals, increasing

Habitat

Rocky cliffs, offshore islands, and sea stacks on North Atlantic coasts for breeding (cliff ledges and under boulders in boreal/low-Arctic waters with sea-surface temperatures below ~15C); pelagic/open ocean, mostly within 10 km of shore, the rest of the year

Fun fact

Razorbills typically live around 13 years, but a bird ringed in the UK in 1967 was recovered still alive at least 41 years later, the longevity record for the species.

Range

North Atlantic: breeds from northeastern North America (Maine to Arctic Canada) and Greenland across Iceland (holding ~60-70% of the world population), the UK/Ireland, and Scandinavia to northwestern Russia and northwestern France; winters at sea south to the western Mediterranean, North Africa, and the mid-Atlantic US coast

Diet

Mid-water schooling fish (capelin, sandeels, herring, sprat, juvenile cod) caught by pursuit-diving (capable of depths to ~120m though typically forages nearer the surface), plus krill/other crustaceans and polychaete worms

Size

0.38 m

Wingspan

0.655 m

Lifespan

41 years