Razorbill Courtship Display - Do You Love Me? I’m “Tinking”.
Two Razorbills performing a courtship display at the Bird Rock lookout on Cape St. Mary's Ecological
Reserve along the Avalon Peninsula about two hours south of St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Newfoundland hunters called Razorbills “tinkers,” the local pronunciation of “thinkers.” They were given this name because during courtship displays, males hold their bills vertically, appearing to contemplate the heavens. How interesting! One observes this behavior in the photo! Razorbill’s black and white markings are dramatic, beautiful and distinctive. Want more interesting Razorbill facts?
Cornell Lab:
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Razorbill/overview:
When feeding young, they may travel over 60 miles on foraging flights.
When Razorbill chicks leave the nest, at about 20 days of age, it’s a leap of faith. They don’t yet have fully developed wing feathers, so they jump—often hundreds of feet—to the sea below, fluttering their wings to slow their descent. The male parent guides them to sea and feeds them until they are independent.
It uses its sharp, hatchet-shaped bill to catch fish underwater, sometimes diving to 330 feet.
Razorbill Courtship Display - Do You Love Me? I’m “Tinking”.
Two Razorbills performing a courtship display at the Bird Rock lookout on Cape St. Mary's Ecological
Reserve along the Avalon Peninsula about two hours south of St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Newfoundland hunters called Razorbills “tinkers,” the local pronunciation of “thinkers.” They were given this name because during courtship displays, males hold their bills vertically, appearing to contemplate the heavens. How interesting! One observes this behavior in the photo! Razorbill’s black and white markings are dramatic, beautiful and distinctive. Want more interesting Razorbill facts?
Cornell Lab:
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Razorbill/overview:
When feeding young, they may travel over 60 miles on foraging flights.
When Razorbill chicks leave the nest, at about 20 days of age, it’s a leap of faith. They don’t yet have fully developed wing feathers, so they jump—often hundreds of feet—to the sea below, fluttering their wings to slow their descent. The male parent guides them to sea and feeds them until they are independent.
It uses its sharp, hatchet-shaped bill to catch fish underwater, sometimes diving to 330 feet.