Razorbill (Alca torda)

Razorbill (Alca torda) are a common resident seabird to the UK. Adult breeding plumage consists of black upperparts and head with white underparts (belly and chest), white eye stripe. Heavy blunt bill with white line across tip (Svensson et al, 2020). Razorbill are cliff nesters, usually in large colonies. Their diet consists of small fish such as sprat or sandeels. Razorbill typically live to around 13 years old, breeding at 4 years (Harris et al, 2024).

Population & Distribution:
Razorbill are a common resident species. Around 16-31% of the global razorbill breeding population is hosted by Britain and Ireland, with 54% of this population found in Scotland (fig. 2) (Burnell et al, 2023; Harris et al, 2024). Razorbill have been recorded at nesting sites all along the East Grampian coast (fig. 3) including Longhaven, Bullers of Buchan, Forvie NNR, Newtonhill, and Fowlsheugh (fig. 4) (SOC North East Scotland Branch, n.d.).

Conservation Status:
Razorbill are an Amber listed species due the importance of the breeding population in the UK (Stanbury et al, 2024).

Factors Impacting Razorbill:
Razorbill face a number of pressures, particularly from the results of climate change. Increasing frequency of extreme weather events reduces razorbills foraging ability, leading to a loss of body condition. Rising sea surface temperatures are also changing the distrubution and availability of prey species such as sandeel. Seabird wrecks of razorbill (and guillemot) over the years have largely been attributed to starvation (Harris et al, 2024). 

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has caused low mortality in razorbill as of November 2022 (Tremlett et al, 2024).

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