Offshore Movements and Behaviour of the Razorbill (Alca torda)
in Atlantic Canada

Travis Clarke M.Sc. candidate
P9f45@unb.ca

Description of Research

Little is known about Razorbill movements away from the breeding colony.  In fact, like most seabirds, knowledge of migration routes appear as either rough descriptions or are simply depicted as arrows on maps (Huettmann and Diamond 2000).  The primary reason for this is that it is virtually impossible to follow most homeotherms at sea (Bannasch et al. 1994) and direct observations are often not feasible because of the great distances and isolated locations that are involved (Wilson et al. 1986). 

Knowledge of Razorbill, and all seabird, wintering locations and migration routes is generally derived from band recoveries, re-sights and counts or observations (from land or boat).  My study aims to build on the existing knowledge of Razorbill migration by using a third method, attachment of electronic devices.  Specifically, we are using a combination of Satellite telemetry, data loggers and radio transmitters to explore the following aspects of Razorbill ecology.


1) Perhaps one of the most intriguing issues we are concerned with is whether Razorbills from other breeding colonies in North America are migrating to and spending part of the winter in the Bay of Fundy.  Razorbills have been reported in large flocks in the Bay of Fundy during winter months suggests.  The breeding population of Razorbills in the Bay of Fundy is approximately 2000 birds, which suggests a large influx of Razorbills (see Huettmann et al. 2006).

To establish this relationship we deployed radio transmitters in July and August 2007, on Razorbills from the Gannet Islands, Labrador (n = 15), Corossol Island, Quebec (n = 10) and Machias Seal Island, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick (n = 15).  We will be doing aerial surveys over the Bay of Fundy and land surveys on the coast of Grand Manan in December 2007 and January 2008 to search for these individuals.

2) We would like to describe the yearly movements of Razorbills at Machias Seal Island.  The presence of Razorbills in the Bay of Fundy in both the breeding and non-breeding season may be indicative of a resident population of Razorbills in the bay and as such we would like to get as detailed information as possible about the Bay of Fundy population as possible.

In 2006 we deployed geolocator tags on Razorbills (n = 5).  These tags sample light, temperature and pressure throughout the year.  These variables are used to calculate latitude and longitude as well as depth, if the bird is diving.  We also had a trained vet equip Razorbills (n = 8) with surgically implanted transmitters, which constantly transmit the location of the birds.

3) The diving behaviour of Razorbills is still poorly understood.  The geolocator tags mentioned above will allow us to gain considerable insight into this aspect of Razorbill behaviour.  The geolocators sample every 2 minutes throughout the day, thereby giving us a detailed picture of where in the water column the bird is for the entire 24 hour period.

The behavior of seabirds away from the breeding colony is poorly understood but through the use of transmitters and data loggers this study will help determine aspects of the Razorbills ecology that would otherwise be unavailable.

Literature Cited

Bannasch, R. 1994.  Hydrodynamic aspects of design and attachment of a back-mounted device in penguins. Journal of Experimental Biology 194:83-96

Croll, D.A., S.D. Osmek and J.L. Bengtson. 1991. An effect of instrument attachment on foraging trip duration in Chinstrap Penguins. The Condor 93:777-779

Huettmann, F. and A.W. Diamond. 2000. Seabird migration in the Canadian northwest Atlantic Ocean: Moulting locations and movement patterns of immature birds.  Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:624-647

Huettmann, F., A.W. Diamond, B. Dalzell and K. Macintosh. 2006. Winter distribution, ecology, and movements of Razorbills Alca torda and other auks in the outer Bay of Fundy, Atlantic Canada. Marine Ornithology 33:161-171

Wilson, R.P., W.S. Grant and D.C. Duffy. 1986. Recording devices on free-ranging marine animals: Does measurement affect foraging performance? Ecology 67(4):1091-1093

Thesis Committee

Dr. Antony W. Diamond (thesis advisor), UNB, ACWERN
Dr. Graham Forbes, UNB
Dr. John Chardine, CWS