razor-billed auk

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

razor-billed auk

Read Next

Common, or southern, cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).

8 Birds That Can’t Fly

animal. Amphibian. Frog. Anura. Ranidae. Frog in grass.

Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World

White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) at Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. (birds)

15 of the Best Birdsongs (According to Britannica)

Spider monkey swinging in a tree. (primate, jungle animal)

Why Do Animals Have Tails?

Black-headed gulls perching on a roof with bird droppings, often seen in flocks around London, England, in winter time. The "black head" develops during the breeding season. (black headed, birds, guano, bird poop)

Discover

Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics

10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time

Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.

Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.

10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci

Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer

Was Santa Claus a Real Person?

An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.

11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that

America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)

Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.

Why Is Ireland Two Countries?

razor-billed auk

bird

Also known as: Alca torda, razorbill

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Also called:: razorbill

Related Topics:: auk

See all related content

razor-billed auk, (Alca torda), black and white seabird of the North Atlantic, bearing a sharp, heavy, compressed beak. About 40 cm (16 inches) long, it is the largest living member of the auk family, Alcidae (order Charadriiformes), and the nearest kin to the extinct great auk. Razor-billed auks are deep divers, feeding on fish (including shellfish). They breed along North Atlantic coasts; some migrate as far south as the Mediterranean Sea.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.