Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Breeding adults. Photo: Ann Pacheco/Audubon Photography Awards
Razorbill
Alca torda
| Conservation status | Far less numerous than the murres; world population in 1970s estimated at a little over 200,000. Distribution is mostly near shore, so is vulnerable to oil spills and other pollution. Thought to have declined in some areas recently, perhaps reflecting increasing pollution of North Atlantic. |
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| Family | Auks, Murres, Puffins |
| Habitat | Open ocean; nests on sea cliffs. Tends to forage in cool waters less than 200' deep, so often concentrates over offshore shoals or ledges; sometimes closer to shore than other large auks. Nests on islands or mainland on cliffs or rocky shorelines. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Forages while swimming underwater. Catches most food 5-20' below surface, rarely may dive to 30'. May catch several fish during one dive. Sometimes steals fish from puffins or other auks.
Eggs
1, perhaps rarely 2. Tan or greenish to white, variably marked with brown. Incubation is by both sexes, 32-39 days. Young: Both parents bring fish in bills to feed nestling. Young leaves nest 14-25 days after hatching, before able to fly. Late in evening, young follows adult to cliff edge and then flutters down to water, and adult and young swim away.
Young
Both parents bring fish in bills to feed nestling. Young leaves nest 14-25 days after hatching, before able to fly. Late in evening, young follows adult to cliff edge and then flutters down to water, and adult and young swim away.
Diet
Mostly fish. Feeds mainly on small fish, especially sand lance, also herring, sprat, capelin, stickleback, cod. Also eats crustaceans and marine worms.
Nesting
Usually first breeds at age of 4-5 years. Nests in colonies. May mate for life. Pair formation may take place within flocks on water or on common ground near colony. In display, male raises head, pointing bill up while giving growling call, then bows deeply; female sometimes does same. Members of pair also touch bills, preen each other's feathers. Nest site is in crevice in cliff, under boulders, on ledge, or in abandoned burrow of other species. Sometimes no nest built, usually small collection of pebbles, grass.
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- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
Low croaks and growls.How Climate Change Will Reshape the Range of the Razorbill
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.
Climate Threats Near You
Climate threats facing the Razorbill
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
Razorbill In the News More News
Conservation
Trump Opens Atlantic's Only Marine Monument to Commercial Fishing
Called the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the area teems with ocean life, including overwintering Atlantic Puffins.
Press Room
New Seabird Study Highlights Importance of Healthy Forage Fish Populations in Warming World
After 23 years studying the nesting success of puffins, razorbills and murres in the Gulf of Maine, research from Audubon and the University of New Brunswick supports the call for improved protections for forage fish populations.
Science
Why Are Murre Eggs So Pointy? New Research Debunks the Prevailing Theory
Scientists have long thought that a murre egg's shape kept it from rolling off the ledges where the birds nest, but the truth might not be that simple.
