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education: birds of georgia Razorbill, Alca torda
Status: Considered accidental Offshore in winter but may be more regular in light of recent sightings. Records include 12 off Tybee Is 19 Dec 1967, 50 32-56 km Offshore 12 Feb 1977 (O 47:21-6), 5 off Ossabaw Is 1 Feb 1984 (O 49:52), 4 off Jekyll Is 8 Feb 1984 (O 49:52), 36 off Tybee Is 1 Feb 2003, 2 off Tybee Is 26 Feb 2003, 106 off Tybee Is 12 Feb 2005, 1 off Cumberland Is winter 2006 (Beaton et al 2003). Habitat: Open ocean. Nests exclusively on sea cliffs in Maine and Maritime Provinces of Canada. Forages in cool water less than 200 ft deep. Many GA records on inner shelf, closer to shore than other pelagic species. May move into GA waters with periodic invasion of cooler water from north in winter when it gathers in flocks at sea to feed on small fish by diving. Diet: Small fish, especially sand lance, also herring, sprat, capelin, stickleback and cod. Also eats crustaceans and marine worms. Species of fish taken in GA water poorly known. Identification: Sexually monomorphic, stocky thick-billed auk. Similar to murres but with a longer tail that is often cocked above water when swimming (see photos). In breeding plumage, head, neck and upper parts black and underparts pure white. Bill has thin vertical line near tip and horizontal white loral line. In non-breeding adults (Aug-May), the white loral line and white on bill disappear and a long vertical white steak develops behind the eye (see photo). First winter birds have a smaller bill than adults that can lead to identification confusion with murres. In flight, it shows clean white underwing coverts, black above, white below and a black collar that is obvious against the white underparts (see photo). Conservation: World population in 1970's estimated at just over 200,000. Nesting colonies vulnerable to human disturbance and predation, and foraging grounds vulnerable to oil spills and other pollution. May have declined in some areas recently due to increasing pollution in North Atlantic (Kaufman 1996).
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