Text P35 (with colour plates)

Gannet Morus Bassanus P.303

1. adult, 5th or 6th year; 2. sub-adult; 3. juvenile

Text P303

GANNETS AND BOOBIES (SULIDAE)

Nine species; virtually worldwide. One species breeds in Europe, and there are claims that another may have occurred as an exceptional vagrant. These are large seabirds with long necks, long pointed bills, long pointed tails and long pointed wings, giving them a quite distinctive shape. They feed by diving from the air, and fly on stiff wings in a flap-glide manner similar to that of shearwaters. Though they are exclusively seabirds, they seldom venture far beyond the continental shelf.

p.35 Gannet Morus Bassanus

Description: 86-96cm (34-38 in). A large, white, seabird marked by extensive black wingtips and unique cigar-like shape, tapering fore and aft. Long neck and long, sharply pointed tail. Long wings also distinctly pointed. Flies on stiff wings, low over waves, rising on series of flaps before gliding once more. Passes through series of plumages: brown juvenile becomes progressively whiter with each moult. Shape, flight and behaviour distinguishes it from all other European seabirds.

Voice: Variety of grunts and cackles at breeding grounds; a hoarse urrah when disputing food.

Habitat: Breeds on cliffs, stacks and remote offshore islands. At other times at sea, though usually over shallower waters of continental shelf rather than truly pelagic.

Breeding: One white egg laid in shallow cup of seaweed. Incubation for 43-45 days, by both sexes. Gannets are highly colonial and construct their nests evenly spread, just out of pecking distance of their neighbours. Some colonies are huge, containing tens of thousands of pairs.

Range: Breeds on both eastern and western coasts of North Atlantic. In Europe most colonies are around Iceland, Britain and Ireland, with a few in northern France and along Norwegian coast. In winter young birds move south along coasts of West Africa.

Gannets frequently gather in enormous numbers to feed around trawlers and over large shoals of surface-swimming fish. Their diving - headfirst from considerable heights - creates an outstanding wildlife spectacle.