Northern Fulmar

Northern Fulmars Fully Out to Sea

Northern Fulmar Light Morph

The Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) is a pelagic species found in our waters.  It is found in the northern hemisphere in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and around the Arctic islands.  It spends its whole life at sea except when it comes to sea islands and cliffs to breed.  It is a member of the Procellariidae family (shearwaters and petrels).  Its tubenose is a distinctive feature of this family.  Notice in the photo above how the nostril is tubular and sits on the dorsal aspect of the beak.  It has salt glands embedded in the flesh above its eyes which excrete excessive salt from its system through these tubular nostrils.  Because of its diet of fish, squid, offal, carrion, marine worms, and crustaceans it needs to excrete salt to maintain a balanced system.  

Northern Fulmars look like stalky gulls.  They are gray above and white below, as seen in the photo above.  The gray is found on the wings, back and tail.  The head and underside are white.  They often show a dark smudge along the eye line.  Their bill is yellow and the feet and legs are gray.  The wings are long and narrow enabling them them to fly in interesting manoeuvres in unpredictable winds.  This species occurs in three morphs; light, intermediate and dark.  The photo above shows a light morph.  See below for a dark morph.  The percentage of dark morphs in a light population depends on the geographical location.  The dark morph is wholly gray with a dark smudge around the eye.  Dark morphs can also be dark brown or brownish gray.  The intermediate morph can be any shade between dark brown and white.  The Northern Fulmar is 48 cm (19 in) long with a wingspan of 107 cm (42 in).

Northern Fulmar Dark Morph

 While on a pelagic trip off Grand Manan we saw about 8 Northern Fulmars with more than one dark morph.  They were quite tame and came up close to the boat.  They have an interesting 'pigeon look' about their heads.  They move south in winter to our waters and those off New England; also off the west coast of Canada south to Mexico.  Their population is stable and possibly increasing in the Atlantic area.  The many birds we saw were probably non-breeders.  

Northern Fulmar Light Morph

Northern Fulmars are monogamous and rejoin their mates each year at the same nesting site for breeding.  Their nest is a slight depression on the ground into which the female lays a single white egg marked with red blotches.  Incubation lasts 52 -53 days and the young one fledges in 49-58 days.  That is a long nesting season!  This species is mostly silent but they do make a variety of croaks and groans on the nesting grounds.  

Northern Fulmar with Herring Gull

Fulmars do not breed until they are 8 to 10 years old.  They are one of the longest-lived birds.  Several birds were banded in Scotland in 1951 and were still breeding in 1990!  They were probably at least 50 years old!  

Our Atlantic population appears to be stable but it could be threatened by oil spills, the plastic refuse floating on/in the ocean, predators and pollution.  Just imaging these individuals living for over 50 years migrating along our coasts from the far north to our waters and southward for all those years.  What a knowledge of oceans currents, feeding areas, climate, geography etc. they must have.