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Razorbill (Alca torda) adult standing on rock of coastal cliff
he species breeds on islands, rocky shores and cliffs on northern Atlantic coasts, in eastern North America as far south as Maine (U.S.A.), and in western Europe from north-west Russia to north-west France. North American birds migrate offshore and south, ranging from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland (Canada) to New England and New York
The razorbill is a colonial seabird that only comes to land in order to breed. This agile bird chooses one partner for life; females lay one egg per year. Razorbills nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed crevices. The parents spend equal amounts of time incubating. Once the chick has hatched, the parents take turns foraging for their young and sometimes fly long distances before finding prey.
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"Razorbills (Alca torda) are colonial seabirds that only come to land to breed. They are distributed across the North Atlantic with approximately half of the breeding pairs occur in Iceland. They choose one partner for life and nest along coastal cliffs and rocky shores. Even though they technically are monogamous, at least half of the females will sneak off at various times to secretly copulate with other males. Then, they return to copulate with their own mates. They will copulate an average of 80 times during the 30 days that take place between the initial mating event and the laying of the first egg. Later, while their mates are safely occupied incubating their egg, the females slip away AGAIN to neighboring ledges for more adulterous copulation. These couplings are like auditions in which the female is testing out other males to see if she can find a better mate. Since females only lay one egg per year, finding the ideal partner is important. But, while the males settle into monogamy, the females are clearly more hesitant to make a commitment! {Spotted in the UK by JungleDragon user, Julian Popov} #JungleDragon" Posted 5 years ago