Birds of the auk family (alcids), such as the puffin, murre, black guillemot and razorbill, breed — together with other seabirds — in huge colonies on cliffs in the North Atlantic. With their upright stance, these birds are somewhat reminiscent of penguins. Like penguins, alcids are excellent swimmers and divers — but they are also able to fly.

The seabird cliff recreates a site in the Lofoten Islands, off Norway, where Bern University researchers studied alcids from 1956 to 1981. The birds displayed here were collected there in 1956 by the taxidermist Kurt Küng. In 1957, these specimens were used to remodel the seabird diorama dating from 1942.