Seabird families breeding in the UK
Fulmars & shearwaters
(1) Northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, (2) Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus
■ Relatives of the albatrosses
■ Fly with stiff wings held straight, several wingbeats followed by long glide
■ Shearwaters often seen in large flocks
Storm petrels
(3) European Storm petrel Hydrobates pelagicus, Leach’s petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa
■ Small dark birds with a white rump
■ Fly close to the water, flight often erratic
■ Rare Leach’s petrel has a slightly forked tail
Gannet
(4) Adult gannet (5) Immature gannet
■ Related to the boobies of tropical seas
■ Conspicuously large and white with black wing tips
■ Juveniles are brown
Cormorants
(6) Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, (7)
European shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis
■ Large, dark birds with a long neck
■ Use large webbed feet to swim underwater
■ Often rest on rocks and navigation marks; Hold wings outstretched to dry feathers
■ Cormorant has white patch on face; shag has a crest in breeding plumage
Gulls
(8) Herring gull Larus
argentatus, Lesser black-back Larus fuscus, Great blackback Larus marinus, Blackheaded gull Chroicocephalus
ridibundus, Mediterranean gull Larus melanocephalus,
(9) Common gull Larus canus, Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
■ A familiar but confusing group. Juveniles and immatures look very different to adults
■ Look at head and bill
■ Great black-back is the largest and darkest
■ Mediterranean gull has blacker head than the commoner black-headed gull
Terns
(10) Common tern Sterna hirundo, (11) Arctic tern
Sterna paradisaea, Sandwich Sterna sandvicensis, (12) Little Sterna albifrons, Roseate Sterna dougallii
■ Slimmer and more elegant than gulls with pointed wings and long forked tail
■ Little tern has white forehead and yellow bill and legs
■ Roseate tern is the rarest breeding seabird in UK, with one small colony in Northumberland
■ All migrants which leave UK waters in winter
Skuas
(13) Great skua Stercorarius
skua, Arctic skua Stercorarius parasiticus
■ Related to gulls and terns; steal fish and sometimes prey on other birds
■ Great skua, also known as a Bonxie (the Shetland name) resembles a heavy, brown gull
■ Arctic skua has pale and dark colour forms, most Scottish birds are all dark brown
■ Only breed in north and west Scotland
Auks
(14) Guillemot Uria aalge, (15) Razorbill Alca torda, Puffin Fratercula arctica, (16) Black guillemot Cepphus grylle, Great auk Pinguinus
impennis (extinct)
■ Compact diving birds with short wings
■ More often seen on the water than flying, form large mixed flocks
■ Fly straight and level with fast wing beats
■ Black guillemot or Tystie is black with white wingpatches