Diet of Razorbill Alca torda chicks on Gr sholmen, central Baltic Sea

This paper describes the food of Razorbill Alca torda chicks on Gr sholmen in the central Baltic Sea and concludes that sprats Sprattus sprattus form the main diet, although sandeels Ammodytes sp. in some years constitute up to 22% by number. Clupeids, mainly sprats, are the most important food in the Baltic proper (Andersson et al. 1974, this study), whereas sandeels and/or capelin Mallotus villosus form the staple diet in most of the Atlantic breeding range (e.g. Harris & Wanless 1986, Chapdelaine & Brosseau 1996).

Peter Lyngs, Dansk Orn. Foren. Tidsskr. 95 (2001): 69-74