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Razorbill
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
1 Alca torda (Razorbill) and 2 Fratercula arctica (Puffin).
Alca torda; like all auks razorbills are birds of seas and oceans. Their very characteristic heavy beaks with a vertical white streak on the beak and a white line running from the eye over the top of the beak easily distinguishes them from other auks. The shorter neck compared to the guillemots make them look more stocky. They breed on cliffs all around Iceland. Like many other auks a female lays 1 egg only. In comparison to the guillemots they lay their egg in rather protected spots like crevices. However they will also breed their egg on bare rock if necessary. The razorbills form looser breeding colonies than the guillemots usually on higher parts of the cliffs which are usually shared by guillemots. Razorbills breeding colonies can be found on sea cliffs from the Atlantic coast of France, the British isles, further north west to Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Norway and further north east to the Kola peninsula of northern Russia. However it is estimated that almost three quarter of the population breeds on Iceland! Outside the breeding season they can be found all over the eastern Atlantic from the northern Norway/Iceland to northern Africa, the North sea and Baltic sea.
From genetic research it has become apparent that the razorbill is more closely related to the dovekie and the extinct great auk and less so to the other auk species. It appears that a single radiation from the pacific (it is known that the auks originated from the pacific region) to the Atlantic led to the evolution of these three very distinct birds: the great auk a flightless large fishing bird, the dovekie a small sea bird also feeding on plankton and the intermediate razorbill.
Original picture is a slide Kodachrome 64, scanned with Nikon Coolscan V. |
firesc, SkyF, cdplayer, thor68 has marked this note useful
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- firesc (12)
- [2006-02-25 20:41]
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Hi, I like this picture very much! At first I thought they were panguins, but then I read your note and understood.
It's a very nice composition, very well ballanced and with a perfectly chosen POV. I also like that it looks as if the birds were posing for your camera.
A bit of an advice: I guess that I would have focused on the bird in the middle. Thus, you could have had a better focus on the third bird.
best,
marina.
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- SkyF
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2390 W: 194 N: 1991]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(8113) - [2006-02-25 21:20]
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A beautiful line up you have here. The DOF is excellent. Ggreat composition.
Sky
Interestiing composition. I like the symmetry and contrast between the rezorbill and the puffins. Very nice catch.
Excellent composition Michel! Love that the focus drops off the second and third razorbills. Nice DOF! Your short but effective lean-in line lets me into your image. Your point of view is perfect!
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- thor68
(4659)
- [2007-09-28 16:37]
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...and the starting line-up for today - razorbill and the puffins!
what an amazing capture of the 3 birds all having
their eyes and bills in the direction of the cam.
terrific capture and good scanning job.
best wishes, thor.
![Silver Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 12 W: 0 N: 104]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/s-n-g.gif){kind=small}
![Silver Star Critiquer [C: 28 W: 0 N: 0]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/s-n-n.gif)
(0)![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 113 W: 16 N: 92]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
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