While I had gone to Skomer Island mainly to see puffins, I came away with a new favourite bird: the razorbill. I was really surprised by and impressed with their appearance. With their sleek black and white outfit, like the crispest tuxedo you'll ever see, and the way the white stripes cross on their faces like war paint, these are some of the coolest looking birds around. They are also one of Skomer Island's burrowing birds, numbering around 6,000 breeding pairs (so 12,000 birds in total). One interesting fact that I learned about the razorbill is that they are from the auk family, which includes puffins, guillemots, and penguins. This category of birds has a mix of those that can fly and those that can't, as you'll see in the link above that the razorbill is considered the closest living relative to the great auk, a species that has gone extinct and that was flightless. I found that especially significant, considering that in the UK, there is a bird known as a little auk, yet it is not as closely related to the great auk as the razorbill. So as a result of them all being auks, they live in harmony with other auks, and throughout the island and the surrounding waters, you'll see all three of the species listed above hanging out on the same rocks and nesting areas. In my little photo album below, you'll see a not-so-great photo of about 3 of them together, and I wanted to include that to show how orange the insides of their beaks are. It's really bright!
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