Razorbill

Name: Razorbill

Scientific name: Alca torda

Category: Birds

Nature Stars: 70

What are nature stars?

About: A medium-sized seabird, about 45cm long. Razorbills are black above and white below. In the winter they have white faces. Razorbills nest on ledges and amongst the rocks around the bottom of cliffs. They feed on fish by diving - in fact they can dive so deep that they have even been spotted hundreds of feet down!

How to identify: Razorbill can be told from guillemots as they are black rather than brown above and they have a shorter, thicker bill with a white line across the end. Guillemots nest on the narrow ledges on cliffs, while razorbills nest lower down where it gets more rocky.

Where: Nests on coastal cliffs. Can be seen around most of our coasts during migration.

Natural Superpowers

• Predator: 70
• Agility: 50
• Rarity: 50
• Cute factor: 40
• Traveller: 70

Fantastic fact: The Razorbill's closest relative was the great auk, the only British bird to have become extinct.

Photograph credit: Photo credit tbc