northern gannet
morus bassanus latin

Winter residents include northern gannets, American white pelicans and common loons.

The most important nesting ground for Northern gannets is the United Kingdom with about two thirds of the world's population.

It happens sometimes that the rock looks white from land, and that is because there are many Northern Gannets sitting there.

Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, with a wingspan of up to 2 metres.

The cliffs are home to millions of birds, including puffins, northern gannets, guillemots and razorbills.

The world's largest colony of Northern Gannets, totalling 30,000 pairs, amount to 24 percent of the global population.

They are also a very important food source for many birds, including egrets, ospreys, seagulls, northern gannets, pelicans, and herons.

It will often obtains fish by robbing gulls, terns and even Northern Gannets of their catches.

Seabirds such as Northern Gannets, Kittiwakes and Atlantic Puffins breed abundantly on the cliffs.

Thousands of Northern Gannets nest here, and by special arrangement some of their young, known as gugas are harvested annually by the men of Ness.

The island has a large bird population, including a colony of Northern Gannets which is the largest in Ireland, and one of the largest in the world.

The Skellig Islands off the south-west coast of Ireland hold some 27,000 pairs of Northern Gannets, the second largest colony in the world.

The islands are a breeding ground for many important seabird species including Northern Gannets, Atlantic Puffins, and Northern Fulmars.

A variety of seabirds can be seen close to the seaside, which is home to colonies of cormorants, gulls, razorbills, northern gannets, common murres and Atlantic puffins.

Colony nesting seabirds, such as alcids, storm petrels, cormorants, Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus), terns and gulls, may be especially vulnerable to predation.

The area also supports large colonies of sea birds such as Northern Gannets, shearwaters, and sea ducks and various sea mammals such as seals, dolphins, and whales.

They have been described as an "inaccessible bird reserve" and provide nesting sites for more than 2,000 pairs of breeding Northern Gannets, hundreds of Guillemots and smaller numbers of Shags and Kittiwakes.

This group of islands is home to an important bird reserve, and is the home of various seabirds, including Northern Gannets, Cormorants, and members of the alcidae family (Puffins, Common Guillemots, Razorbills).

For more information on northern gannets visit the US Fish and Wildlife Service website and for more information on bird rescue work visit the Tri State Bird Rescue and Research website.

At Cape St. Mary's Sea Bird Sanctuary, about 124 miles southwest of St. John's, the world's second largest colony of northern gannets (the biggest is in Quebec) can be found along the cliffs, which can be seen on foot.

Small numbers of seabirds, mainly fulmars, northern gannets, black-legged kittiwakes, and common guillemots, use the rock for resting in summer, and gannets and guillemots occasionally breed successfully if the summer is calm with no storm waves washing over the rock.

Among the breeding birds are European Storm-Petrels, Northern Gannets, Fulmars, Manx Shearwaters, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Common Guillemots, Razorbills and Atlantic Puffins (with 4,000 or more puffins on Great Skellig alone).

(The Municipal website of Percé mentions that the population of northern gannets is 121,000, which exceeds the figures mentioned for the archipelago of St Kilda in Scotland)- Other birds found on the island include puffins, razorbills, Black guillemot and kittiwakes, as well as over 200 other species.

Gannet Morus bassanus (Gant)

The Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) is a seabird and is the largest member of the gannet family, Sulidae.

Colony nesting seabirds, such as alcids, storm petrels, cormorants, Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus), terns and gulls, may be especially vulnerable to predation.

A black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) returned to the same huge Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) rookery on Hermaness Island in the Outer Hebrides from 1967 until 1987.

Before it collapsed the bird Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) used to nest there, but since it collapsed the birds don't nest there any more, they nest in Mykineshólmur.