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Razorbill

Status Uncommon transient, rare in summer and winter. Breeds. Most common in summer in the immediate vicinity of its principal breeding colony at Bird Islands, Victoria County, where, in 1971, it numbered 50-100 pairs. Bayley (1925) estimated about 500 pairs there around 1925, and John R. Gallagher found 200-300 birds there on 3 July 1964. Smaller numbers also nest on St. Paul Island in Cabot Strait, and on Pearl Island, Lunenburg County (two pairs in 1975), and once nested on Gannet Rock and Green Island off Yarmouth (Bryant 1857). A small bird in down-like juvenile plumage was taken by V.E. Gould on Dingwall Bay, Victoria County, on 24 August 1935 (Godfrey 1958). In spring and fall the Razorbill is a regular transient along the Atlantic and Fundy coasts, where it is less common in winter. It arrives in mid-October and, except in the vicinity of its colonies, is rarely seen after mid-May.

Description Length: 40-47 cm. Adults in summer: Upperparts sooty black; sides of head and throat tinged with brown; breast, belly and a line from eye to bill white; bill laterally compressed, black, crossed by a white band. Adults in winter: Similar but with sides and front of neck white, and white line in front of eye lacking. Immatures: Similar to adults in winter but bill is smaller and lacks white band.

Breeding Nest: None worthy of the name; a single egg is laid on bare rock or ground on the rocky cliffsides of coastal islands. Egg: 1; varies from greenish blue to creamy white, all spotted and streaked with dark brown. Laying begins in late May or early June.

Range In eastern North America, breeds mainly in southeastern Labrador, but its range extends south to Maine, and it also breeds in western Greenland. Winters off New England and southern Nova Scotia. It is also found in the Old World, from Brittany to Iceland and northwestern Russia. The world population of the Razorbill is over 100,000 breeding pairs; about 25,000 nest in Atlantic Canada.

Remarks The Razorbill may be distinguished from murres by its bill, which is blunt ended and fairly deep, rather than pointed or crow-like. Furthermore, it usually swims with its tail cocked up, whereas murres do not. It is known locally as a "noddy" or "tinker."