Razorbill (Alca_torda)
(Sunburgh Head, Shetland I., June 2013)
The Razorbill is primarily black with a white underside. The male and female are identical in plumage; however, males are generally larger than females.This bird chooses one partner for life. Females lay one egg per year. Razorbills nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed crevices.
Habitat: These birds are distributed across sub-arctic and boreal waters of the Atlantic. Their breeding habitat is islands, rocky shores and cliffs on northern Atlantic coasts. These were perched in a rocky cliff in Sunburgh Head, Lerwick (Shetland I.). I venture to say the two above were a couple and the one below a neighbor.
The razorbill is a colonial seabird that only comes to land in order to breed. This agile bird chooses one partner for life; females lay one egg per year. Razorbills nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed crevices. The parents spend equal amounts of time incubating. Once the chick has hatched, the parents take turns foraging for their young and sometimes fly long distances before finding prey.
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