Northern Fulmar

Northern Fulmar, light-morph adult; Pribilof Is., AK; July.

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Northern Fulmar, adult with chick; cliff nest, Semidi Is. AK; August

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A gull-like relative of albatrosses and shearwaters, the Northern Fulmar is a bird of the northern oceans. It breeds in a few dozen scattered locations off Alaska and Canada, but is more abundant and widespread elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, especially in the northeast Atlantic.

Description

• Medium-sized seabird; gull-sized.
• Shaped like a gull, glides like a shearwater.
• Moderately long, rounded wings.
• Short, stout, pale bill.
• Short, rounded tail.
• Small dark patch in front of eye.
• Morphs vary from white to dark gray.
• Lighter morph whitish or light-gray on back and upper wings, with white head and neck.
• Darker morph uniformly gray.

• Size: 39-50 cm (15-20 in)
• Wingspan: 100-112 cm (39-44 in)
• Weight: 450-1000 g (15.89-35.3 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes similar; males slightly larger.

Sound

Hoarse cackling.

Conservation Status

No immediate threat, but high local density of breeding populations may make the species vulnerable to catastrophic changes in food supply or other environmental conditions.

Other Names

Fulmar boréal (French)
Fulmar boreal (Spanish)
Fulmar (English)

Cool Facts

• The Northern Fulmar is one of the longest-lived birds. Data from one study indicate a mean adult life span of about 32 years. In Scotland, several Northern Fulmars banded as adults in 1951 were still breeding in 1990, at ages likely greater than 50 years.
• The Northern Fulmar begins breeding at an exceptionally old age. Most do not breed until they are at least 8 to 10 years old; one study found an individual that started breeding at age 20.

• The Northern Fulmar is well known among commercial fishermen for its avid scavenging of offal thrown from whaling and fishing boats.

• The population of Northern Fulmars in the northeast Atlantic has dramatically increased over the past 250 years. Once only one colony was found in northern Iceland, and none off the Faeroes or the British Isles. Now hundreds of colonies exist across all the coasts of these islands. It is unclear whether this change has resulted from natural oceanographic changes, from increased food availability from fishing vessels, or from some other factor.

• The Northern Fulmar can dive to a depth of at least 3 meters (10 feet).

Sources used to construct this page:

Hatch, S. A., and D. N. Nettleship. 1998. Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis). In The Birds of North America, No. 361 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.