Name: Razorbill, razorbill awk
Scientific Name: Alca torda (Linnaeus, 1758)
Family: Alcidae
Group: Birds
Class: Birds
Size: 26-50 cm.
These birds spend the winter at sea and only head to the coast in spring to nest. Generally they mate for life and although they only meet during the breeding seasons are always able to recognise one another among the crowded colonies. They place a single egg under stones or in the cracks of rocks and over a 40-day period the parents share the incubation. When the chicks are nearly three months old and still unable to fly, they bravely jump down steep cliffs to join the adults swimming in the sea. Adult birds are able to dive to depths of up to 120 m (!) and use their wings like fins under the water. Razorbills can live for up to 30 years.
Photo by:
Ricardo Guerreiro (www.avesdeportugal.info)
North Atlantic
