Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) Bird Information
Fulmar is a stocky, heavily-built seabird; glides and skims water with typical stiff-winged shearwater flight. Flaps wings more frequently than shearwaters. Head, neck and body white; wings, back and tail grey.
Fulmar bird has Lacks any distinctive black and white pattern on wingtips. Short yellow bill; tube-nose visible at close quarters. Thick ‘bull-neck’ quite unlike any similar species; particularly noticeable in flight. Often gathers in large numbers round trawlers; decidedly gregarious at cliff breeding colonies.
Status: breeds along almost all coasts where suitable cliffs occur. In winter, widespread throughout Atlantic and the North Sea.
Similar Species: easily confused with gulls, especially when perched on cliffs. Only grey, stiff-winged species at sea.
Bird Facts
| Type | gull-like |
| Size | 40 – 44 cm (20 – 17 in) |
| Habitat | sea and sea -cliffs |
| Behaviour | swims, perches on rocks, takes off and lands on water or cliffs |
| Flocking | colonial; sometimes huge flocks |
| Flight | strong and powerful; gliding |
| Voice | harsh crackle at breeding colonies |
Fulmar Bird Identification
| Adult | |
| Crown | white |
| Upperparts | grey |
| Rump | grey; |
| Tail | grey; short and square |
| Throat | white |
| Breast | white |
| Belly | white |
| Bill | yellow; short, tube-nosed |
| Legs | yellow; short |
Fulmar Bird Breeding
| Nest | bare ledge |
| Eggs | 1; white |
| Incubation | 55 – 57 days |
| Young | helpless; downy |
| Fledging | 46 – 51 days |
| Broods | 1; May – September |
| Food | crustaceans, fish |
| Population | 600,000 pairs |