Razorbill (Alca torda)
Another colonial cliff-breeding alcid, the razorbill (Fig. 4), has a distribution pattern very similar to that of the common murre, but the individual colonies (Table 8) are, with one exception, smaller. The total breeding population was estimated at 36,000 pairs in 1966-69 (Brun 1969b); some more recent censuses show a definite decline, but data are not sufficient to estimate the overall decline in the Norwegian population. At most, the current breeding population is 30,000 pairs.
Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)
The fulmar is one of two species of seabirds that have spread from colonies in the British Isles and established themselves as breeding birds in Norway during this century (the other is the gannet).
Fig. 2. Distribution of the common murre (Uria aalge) in Norway. Numbers refer to localities listed in Tables 5 and 6.
Fig. 3. Distribution of the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) in Norway. Numbers refer to localities listed in Table 7.
| County | Breeding pairs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rissa | Fratercula | |||
| Number (thousands) | Percent | Number (thousands) | Percent | |
| Finnmark | 321 | 62.9 | 38 | 3.0 |
| Troms | 9 | 1.8 | 258 | 20.5 |
| Nordland | 72 | 14.1 | 928 | 73.7 |
| Trøndelag (S, N) | 1 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.2 |
| Møre and Romsdal | 105 | 20.6 | 30 | 2.4 |
| Sogn and Fjordane | 1.9 | 0.4 | 3 | 0.2 |
| Rogaland | 0.1 | — | <0.1 | — |
| Total | 510 | 100.0 | 1,259 | 100.0 |