Puffins, razorbills, and guillemots all belong to the family Alcidae. These are pelagic birds, meaning they spend most of the year offshore, and only come to coastal habitats to breed in the early summer. All of these species are pursuit predators, meaning they will dive underwater (sometimes to depths of up to 30m!) in pursuit of the small fishes that make up the majority of their diets. Capable swimmers, alcids (=auks) use their wings both to swim underwater and to fly. As with many seabirds, these species prefer to form colonies in areas free of land predators, meaning they can often be found nesting along coastal cliffs or on more remote islands. Protection from predators is particularly important for the puffins, which build underground nests (much like shearwaters and petrels).
As for other seabirds, these species form lifelong, monogamous pair bonds, and will typically raise only one chick per year. The majority of photographs in this gallery were taken at the Isle of May and the Farne Islands: two critical seabird colonies in the North Sea near the Scotland-England border.