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Another seabird family that does not land while feeding is the skimmer, which has a unique fishing method: flying along the surface with the lower mandible in the water—this shuts automatically when the bill touches something in the water. The skimmer's bill reflects its unusual lifestyle, with the lower mandible uniquely being longer than ...
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.
Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years. Skimmers are a small family of tropical tern-like birds. They have an elongated lower mandible which they use to feed by flying low over the water surface and skimming the water for small fish. Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus (A)
Sooty terns feed at night as the fish rise to the surface, and are believed to sleep on the wing since they become waterlogged easily. Terns of several species will feed on invertebrates, following the plough or hunting on foot on mudflats. [5] The marsh terns normally catch insects in the air or pick them off the surface of fresh water.
The family Oceanitidae was introduced in 1881 by the English zoologist William Alexander Forbes. [1] Two subfamilies of storm petrel were traditionally recognized. [2] The Oceanitinae, or austral storm-petrels, were mostly found in southern waters (though Wilson's storm petrel regularly migrates into the Northern Hemisphere); the ten species are placed in five genera. [3]
Video of gulls, ducks, and swans feeding on the Danube River in Vienna (2014) A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term water bird is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabirds that inhabit marine ...
Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds and includes gulls, terns, and skimmers. Gulls are typically grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the ...
Procellariiformes / p r ɒ s ɛ ˈ l ɛər i. ɪ f ɔːr m iː z / is an order of seabirds that comprises four families: the albatrosses, the petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels.