Razorbill (Alca torda) [XC321466]
by Stanislas Wroza from Bempton Cliffs, Flamborough Head, Northumberland, United Kingdom (call)
Razorbill (Alca torda) [XC336606]
by david m from Marloes and St. Brides, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom (call)
Nest
None. In a crevice on a cliff, amongst boulders or in a burrow entrance. Rarely on an open ledge.
Eggs (Guide)
1; variable, from any shade of brown, buff, cream, white or blue-green, fairly heavily spotted and blotched in colors ranging from brown to black; oval. Incubation: about 35 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Populations of eastern Canada, western Greenland, Norway and Murmansk described as subspecies pica, having additional furrow on upper mandible, but not valid as this characteristic now known to be age-related.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
torda Linnaeus, 1758 - Eastern North America (Digges Sound and south-eastern Baffin south to Gulf of Maine), Greenland and east to Bear I, Norway, Denmark, Baltic Sea region, Murmansk and White Sea.
islandica Brehm, CL, 1831 - Iceland, Faeroes, Britain, Ireland east to Helgoland, Channel Is and north-western France (Brittany).
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet