Northern Gannet

Northern Gannets, breeding plumage

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Northern Gannet landing

Northern Gannet adults with chick

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

Breeding in only a few large colonies along the North Atlantic, the Northern Gannet spends most of its life at sea. Flocks engage in spectacular bouts of plunge-diving for fish, with hundreds of birds diving into the ocean from heights of up to 40 meters (130 feet).

Cool Facts

• Most plunge-dives are relatively shallow, but the Northern Gannet can dive as deep as 22 meters (72 feet). It uses its wings and feet to swim deeper in pursuit of fish.
• In North America, the Northern Gannet breeds in only six well established colonies: three in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Québec, and three in the North Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland. In the eastern North Atlantic, it is distributed in 32 colonies from the coast of Brittany in France northward to Norway.

Description

• Size: 81-110 cm (32-43 in)
• Wingspan: 175-179 cm (69-70 in)
• Weight: 2200-3600 g (77.66-127.08 ounces)

• Large waterbird.
• White with black wingtips.
• Long pointed bill.
• Long pointed tail.
• Long pointed wings.
• Immatures range from all dark to mostly white.

• Yellowish tinge to head.
• Bill pale blue, outlined in black.
• Bare skin on face dark blue-gray.
• Bright blue ring around eyes.
• Legs and feet gray-black, with electric-blue or green line extending from the front down the toes.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Juvenile all dark, covered in white spots, and with white rump. Takes three or more years to get adult plumage; immature birds can be a mix of dark and light markings.

Similar Species

• Masked Booby has black tail and black extending along the back of the wings.
• Adult Brown Booby has sharp border between dark brown chest and white belly, and will be mostly unspotted brown.
• Red-footed Booby has pale face and black extending along the back of the wings.
• Gannet has feathering in front of eyes, boobies do not.

Sound

Calls loud, harsh, and grating. Soft "krok" given at sea similar to call of Common Raven.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds in Quebec and Newfoundland. Also along Northern Europe.

Winter Range

Winters at sea along Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Also along Europe to northern Africa.

Habitat

Nests on offshore islands and inaccessible cliffs. Forages offshore. Winters at sea.

Food

Fish and squid.

Behavior

Foraging

Plunge-dives from various heights up to 10-40 meters (33-130 feet). Thrusts wings straight out over back, touching in the middle, just before breaking the water surface.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Large, compacted pile of mud, seaweed, grass, flotsam, and feathers cemented together with excreta. Nests in colonies.

Egg Description

Pale blue or greenish.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with little down.

Conservation Status

Populations increasing.

Other Names

Fou de Bassan (French)
Bobo norteño (Spanish)
Gannet (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Mowbray, T. B. 2002. Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus). In The Birds of North America, No. 693 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.In The Birds of North America