Fulmar

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Fulmar
Fulmarus glacialis on cliff.jpg
Northern fulmar
Northern fulmar
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Fulmarus
Stephens, 1826
Type species
Procellaria glacialis (northern fulmar)
Linnaeus, 1761
Species

The fulmars are tubenosed seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family includes two extant species and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene.

Contents

Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on stiff wings, and their tube noses. They breed on cliffs, laying one or rarely two eggs on a ledge of bare rock or on a grassy cliff. Outside the breeding season, they are pelagic, feeding on fish, squid and shrimp in the open ocean. They are long-lived for birds, living for up to 40 years.

Historically, temperate Atlantic populations of the northern fulmar lived on the islands of St. Kilda, where it was extensively hunted, and Grimsey (Iceland). The species has expanded its breeding range eastwards and southwards to the coasts of the Faroes, Britain and Ireland, northern France, Norway and Heligoland, as well as around the coast of Iceland and to southern Greenland. Arctic populations are found in Baffin Island, Jan Mayen and Svalbard.

Taxonomy

The genus Fulmarus was introduced in 1826 by the English naturalist James Stephens. [1] The name comes from the Old Norse Fúlmár meaning "foul-mew" or "foul-gull" because of the birds' habit of ejecting a foul-smelling oil. [2] The type species was designated by George Gray in 1855 as the northern fulmar . [3] [4]

As members of Procellaridae and then the order Procellariiformes, they share certain traits. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. The bills of Procellariiformes are unique in being split into between seven and nine horny plates. Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators and as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. [5] It will mat the plumage of avian predators, which can lead to their death. Fulmars have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe. It excretes a strong saline solution from their nose. [6]

Extant species

The genus contains the following two species. [7]

Genus Fulmarus Stephens, 1826 – two species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
northern fulmar

Northern Fulmar scotland RWD1.jpg

Fulmarus glacialis
(Smith, 1840)
North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans.
FULMAR.gif
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


southern fulmar

Fulmar antarctique - Fulmarus glacialoides.jpg

Fulmarus glacialoides
(Linnaeus, 1761)

Three subspecies
islands around Antarctica such as the South Sandwich Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, Bouvet Island, and Peter I Island
Fulmarus glacialoides map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Fossils

Two prehistoric species have been described from fossil bones found on the Pacific coast of California: Fulmarus miocaenus (Temblor Formation) and Fulmarus hammeri from the Miocene. [8]

Description

The two fulmars are closely related seabirds occupying the same niche in different oceans. The northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) or just fulmar lives in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, whereas the southern fulmar, (Fulmarus glacialoides) is, as its name implies, a bird of the Southern Ocean. These birds look superficially like gulls, but are not closely related, and are in fact petrels. The northern species is grey and white with a yellow bill, 43 to 52 cm (17–20 in) in length with a 102 to 112 cm (40–44 in) wingspan. [9] The southern form is a paler bird with dark wing tips, 45 to 50 cm (18–20 in) long, with a 115 to 120 cm (45–47 in) wingspan.

Behavior

Breeding

A northern fulmar in flight Fulmar Yesnaby 2010.jpg
A northern fulmar in flight

Both recent species breed on cliffs, laying a single white egg. [9] Unlike many small to medium birds in the Procellariiformes, they are neither nocturnal breeders, nor do they use burrows; their eggs are laid on the bare rock or in shallow depressions lined with plant material.

In Britain, northern fulmars historically bred on St. Kilda (where their harvesting for oil, feathers and meat was central to the islands' economy). They spread into northern Scotland in the 19th century, and to the rest of the United Kingdom by 1930. The expansion has continued further south; the fulmar can now often be seen in the English Channel and in France along the northern and western coasts, with breeding pairs or small colonies in Nord, Picardy, Normandy and along the Atlantic coast in Brittany. [10]

Feeding

A tail-piece wood engraving in Thomas Bewick's A History of British Birds, Volume 2: Water Birds, 1804 Bird's Eggs from Sea-Cliffs tail-piece in Bewick British Birds 1804.jpg
A tail-piece wood engraving in Thomas Bewick's A History of British Birds , Volume 2: Water Birds, 1804

Fulmars are highly pelagic outside the breeding season, like most tubenoses, feeding on fish, small squid, shrimp, crustaceans, marine worms, and carrion. [11] The range of these species increased greatly in the 20th century due to the availability of fish offal from commercial fleets, but may contract because of less food from this source and climatic change. [9] The population increase has been especially notable in the British Isles. [12]

Like other petrels, their walking ability is limited, but they are strong fliers, with a stiff wing action quite unlike the gulls. They look bull-necked compared to gulls, and have short stubby bills. They are long-lived, the longest recorded lifespan for F. glacialis being 40 years, 10 months and 16 days. [13]

Relationship with humans

The catch of fulmars on St Kilda; George Washington Wilson, August 1884 Dividing the catch of fulmar, St Kilda - George Washington Wilson.jpg
The catch of fulmars on St Kilda; George Washington Wilson, August 1884

Fulmars have for centuries been hunted for food. The engraver Thomas Bewick wrote in 1804 that "Pennant, speaking of those [birds] which breed on, or inhabit, the Isle of St Kilda, says—'No bird is of so much use to the islanders as this: the Fulmar supplies them with oil for their lamps, down for their beds, a delicacy for their tables, a balm for their wounds, and a medicine for their distempers.'" [14] A photograph by George Washington Wilson taken about 1886 shows a "view of the men and women of St Kilda on the beach dividing up the catch of Fulmar". [15] James Fisher, author of The Fulmar (1952) calculated that every person on St Kilda consumed over 100 fulmars each year; the meat was their staple food, and they caught around 12,000 birds annually. Fulmar eggs were collected until the late 1920s in the St Kilda islands by their men scaling the cliffs. The eggs were buried in St Kilda peat ash to be eaten through the cold, northern winters. The eggs were considered to taste like duck eggs in taste and nourishment. [16] However, when the human population left St Kilda in 1930, the fulmar population did not suddenly increase. [17]

Both the southern fulmar and the northern fulmar are listed as of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procellariiformes</span> Order of birds

Procellariiformes is an order of seabirds that comprises four families: the albatrosses, the petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English, procellariiforms are often referred to collectively as the petrels, a term that has been applied to all members of the order, or more commonly all the families except the albatrosses. They are almost exclusively pelagic, and have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world's oceans, with the highest diversity being around New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seabird</span> Birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment

Seabirds are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petrel</span> Seabird

Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the phylogenetic order Procellariiformes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procellariidae</span> Family of seabirds which includes petrels, shearweters and prions

The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes, which also includes the albatrosses and the storm petrels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern fulmar</span> Species of bird

The northern fulmar, fulmar, or Arctic fulmar is an abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hemisphere, with a single bird seen south of New Zealand. Fulmars come in one of two colour morphs; a light one in temperate populations, with white head and body and grey wings and tail, and a dark one in arctic populations, which is uniformly grey; intermediate birds are common. Though similar in appearance to gulls, fulmars are in fact members of the family Procellariidae, which includes petrels and shearwaters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern fulmar</span> Species of bird

The southern fulmar is a seabird of the Southern Hemisphere. Along with the northern fulmar, F. glacialis, it belongs to the fulmar genus Fulmarus in the family Procellariidae, the true petrels. It is also known as the Antarctic fulmar or silver-grey fulmar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-footed albatross</span> Species of bird

The black-footed albatross is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae from the North Pacific. All but 2.5% of the population is found among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of three species of albatross that range in the northern hemisphere, nesting on isolated tropical islands. Unlike many albatrosses, it is dark plumaged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant petrel</span> Genus of birds

Giant petrels form a genus, Macronectes, from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two living and one extinct species. They are the largest birds in this family. Both extant species in the genus are native to the Southern Hemisphere. Giant petrels are extremely aggressive predators and scavengers, inspiring another common name, the stinker. Seamen and whalers also referred to the giant petrel as the molly-hawk, gong, glutton bird and nelly. They are the only member of their genus that is capable of walking on land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern giant petrel</span> Species of bird

The southern giant petrel, also known as the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot, is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the similar northern giant petrel, though it overall is centered slightly further south. Adults of the two species can be distinguished by the colour of their bill-tip: greenish in the southern and reddish in the northern.

<i>Procellaria</i> Genus of birds

Procellaria is a genus of Southern Ocean long-winged seabirds related to prions, and within the order Procellariiformes. The black petrel ranges in the Pacific Ocean, and as far north as Central America. The spectacled petrel is confined to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Westland petrel to the Pacific Ocean. The white-chinned and grey petrel range throughout the higher latitudes of the Southern Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue petrel</span> Species of bird

The blue petrel is a small seabird in the shearwater and petrel family, Procellariidae. This small petrel is the only member of the genus Halobaena, but is closely allied to the prions. It is distributed across the Southern Ocean but breeds at a few island sites, all close to the Antarctic Convergence zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape petrel</span> Species of bird

The Cape petrel, also called the Cape pigeon, pintado petrel, or Cape fulmar, is a common seabird of the Southern Ocean from the family Procellariidae. It is the only member of the genus Daption, and is allied to the fulmarine petrels, and the giant petrels. They are extremely common seabirds with an estimated population of around 2 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulmarine petrel</span> Group of birds

The fulmarine petrels or fulmar-petrels are a distinct group of petrels within the family Procellariidae. They are the most variable of the four groups within the Procellariidae, differing greatly in size and biology. They do, however, have a unifying feature, their skull, and in particular their nasal tubes. They are predominantly found in the Southern Ocean with one species, the northern fulmar, ranging in the North Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-chinned petrel</span> Species of bird

The white-chinned petrel also known as the Cape hen and shoemaker, is a large shearwater in the family Procellariidae. It ranges around the Southern Ocean as far north as southern Australia, Peru and Namibia, and breeds colonially on scattered islands. The white-chinned petrel was formerly considered to be conspecific with the spectacled petrel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slender-billed prion</span> Species of bird

The slender-billed prion or thin-billed prion, is a species of petrel, a seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is found in the southern oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulmar prion</span> Species of bird

The fulmar prion is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae, found in the southern oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvin's prion</span> Species of bird

Salvin's prion, also known as the medium-billed prion, is a species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae.

References

  1. Stephens, James Francis (1826). Shaw, George (ed.). General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History. Vol. 13, Part 1. London: Kearsley et al. p. 236.
  2. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 166. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 129.
  4. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 60–61.
  5. Double, M. C. (2003)
  6. Ehrlich, Paul R. (1988)
  7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Petrels, albatrosses". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  8. Howard, Hildegard (1984). "Additional Avian Records from the Miocene of Kern County, California with the Description of a New Species of Fulmar". Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci. 83 (2): 84–89. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  9. 1 2 3 Maynard, B. J. (2003)
  10. Yeatman, L (1976)
  11. "Northern Fulmar". Audubon. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  12. Bull, J. & Farrand Jr., J. (1993)
  13. Robinson, R. A. (2005). "Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis". British Trust for Ornithology. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  14. Bewick, Thomas (1847). A History of British Birds, volume II, Water Birds (revised ed.). p. 226.
  15. Wilson, George Washington (1886). "Dividing the Catch of Fulmar St Kilda". GB 0231 MS 3792/C7187 6188. Aberdeen Library Special Collections and Museums. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  16. Ferguson, Susan Rachel (April 18, 1930). "Fulmar article". The Daily Mail.
  17. Cocker, Mark; Mabey, Richard (2005). Birds Britannica. London: Chatto and Windus. pp. 12–18. ISBN   978-0-7011-6907-7.
  18. BirdLife International (2018). "Fulmarus glacialis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22697866A132609419. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697866A132609419.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  19. BirdLife International (2018). "Fulmarus glacialoides". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22697870A132609920. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697870A132609920.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.

Sources

Further reading