Razorbill

Adults have black head, neck, back, and upperwings, with a sharply contrasting white underbelly and breast. A thin white line curves from the base of the heavy, blunt bill to the eye. In winter, the throat and sides of the head become white.

Heavy, compressed, grooved bill with a white vertical bar; dark head and back contrasting with white underparts; white line from bill to eye.

Length: 37-43 cm, Wingspan: 60-69 cm, Weight: 500-900 g

Low, purring growls and raspy croaks heard at the breeding colonies.

Primarily small fish such as sand lances, sprats, and herring, supplemented with crustaceans and marine worms.

Open ocean waters for most of the year, coming to rocky coastal cliffs, ledges, and boulder fields only to breed.

Migratory; moves south into open waters of the North Atlantic during winter, reaching as far as the western Mediterranean and New England.

Lays a single large egg directly on a bare rock ledge or in a crevice on a cliff face, without building a traditional nest. Both parents incubate and feed the chick.

Common Murre (Uria aalge) and Thick-billed Murre, but distinguished by the Razorbill's heavier, blunt, grooved bill and the white line running to the eye.

Acts as an important predator of small schooling fish and serves as an indicator species for the health of marine ecosystems.

Near Threatened with a decreasing population trend.

Visit rugged coastal cliffs and offshore islands during the breeding season with a good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope.

Razorbills are excellent divers, using their wings to 'fly' underwater in pursuit of prey, and can dive to depths of 120 meters.