ID Keys: Adults mostly white, dark wingtips, orangish hue on head.
Juveniles brownish, achieving mature plunmage in 4th year
The
Northern Gannet is one of the largest seabirds of the north Atlantic Ocean,
where great nesting colonies can be found on select cliff sites on the
Canadian coastline in summer. At other times of the year, they are scattered
over a wide area across the Atlantic, from as far north as Cape Cod in
Massachusetts, southward to the tropics. Groups of foraging Northern
Gannets are often found where upwelling cold currents concentrate their
favorite fish species. There, Northern Gannets can be seen performing
spectacular plunge dives into the ocean, with high-speed vertical dives
followed by underwater pursuit of their prey. Northern Gannets are
closely related to Booby species, with the Masked Booby and Red-footed Bobby
somewhat similar in overall appearance.
Habitat
The Northern Gannet inhabits open marine environments of the North Atlantic, especially offshore coastal waters, continental shelf areas, and productive ocean regions rich in fish. It breeds in large colonies on steep sea cliffs, rocky islands, and offshore stacks where strong updrafts aid flight and access to surrounding feeding waters.
Diet
The Northern Gannet feeds mainly on fish such as mackerel, herring, capelin, and sand lance, which it captures by spectacular plunge-diving from high above the ocean surface. It also eats squid and other marine prey, often foraging far offshore over productive feeding areas.
Behavior
Northern Gannets typically feed by plunge-diving into the water, and swimming underwater to capture fish. They will also sometimes swim on the ocean's surface, tipping down and swimming underwater when prey is spotted.
Nesting
Nests in colonies, using rocky cliffs. The nest is typically on a cliff ledge, and consists of a mound of grasses, feathers, and seawood, bound together by the birds' own droppings. Both the male and female will help to incubate the eggs, and both parents feed and tend to the young. Nesting pairs may stay together for many years, and often use the same nest site multiple years in a row.
Song
They are most often heard on their breeding grounds, where birds on breeding colonies give harsh gurgling calls. At other seasons, they are mostly silent.
Migration
In North America, Northern Gannets breed in and around the Atlantic coast of southeastern Canada. Strongly migratory, in winter, North American birds are found along the Atlantic Coast from Cape Cod southward, and the Gulf Coast.
Masked Booby and Red-footed Booby are most similar in overal plumage, but juveniles especially could also be mistaken for Blue-footed Booby or Brown Booby juveniles. The Northern Gannet is much larger and bulkier than the Masked Booby, Red-footed Booby, Blue-footed Booby, and Brown Booby, with a long pale buff-yellow head and mostly white body. Unlike boobies, adult Northern Gannets show black wing tips without extensive dark tail or body markings, and they lack the brightly colored feet seen on Red-footed and Blue-footed Boobies. Brown Boobies are darker overall with rich brown upperparts and white underparts, while Masked Boobies have a more sharply defined black facial mask and a whiter head without the warm buff tones of the Northern Gannet.
Conservation Status
Populations of Northern Gannet plummeted in the 1800s. Birds were shot for food, and eggs were also collected from nesting colonies. Populations began to recover in the 1900s and are likely still increasing today, but it's likely populations are still well below the historical norm. With the population recovery however, the IUCN lists the Northern Gannet as a species of "Least Concern".
Photo Information
Photo taken on February 13th, 2008 - Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, coastal Alabama - Terry Sohl
