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There exists no single definition of which groups, families and species are seabirds, and most definitions are in some way arbitrary. Elizabeth Shreiber and Joanna Burger, two seabird scientists, said, "The one common characteristic that all seabirds share is that they feed in saltwater; but, as seems to be true with any statement in biology, some do not."
Many shearwaters are long-distance migrants, perhaps most spectacularly sooty shearwaters, which cover distances in excess of 14,000 km (8,700 mi) from their breeding colonies on the Falkland Islands (52°S 60°W) to as far as 70° north latitude in the North Atlantic Ocean off northern Norway, and around New Zealand to as far as 60° north latitude in the North Pacific Ocean off Alaska.
The most important family culturally is the albatrosses, which have been described by one author as "the most legendary of birds". [76] Albatrosses have featured in poetry in the form of Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's famous 1798 poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner , which in turn gave rise to the usage of albatross as metaphor for a burden . [ 77 ]
Most seabirds are colonial, and the reasons for colonial behaviour are assumed to be similar, if incompletely understood by scientists. Procellariids for the most part have weak legs and are unable to easily take off, making them highly vulnerable to mammalian predators. Most procellariid colonies are located on islands that have historically ...
Gannets can achieve speeds of 100 km/h (62.13 mph) as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish at a much greater depth than most airborne birds. [5] The gannet's supposed capacity for eating large quantities of fish has led to "gannet" becoming a description of somebody with a voracious appetite. [6]
Like most terns, this species feeds by plunge-diving for fish, either in the sea or in freshwater, but molluscs, crustaceans and other invertebrate prey may form a significant part of the diet in some areas. Eggs and young are vulnerable to predation by mammals such as rats and American mink, and large birds including gulls, owls and herons.
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]
The Ascension frigatebird (Fregata aquila) is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae which breeds on Boatswain Bird Island and Ascension Island in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. The Ascension frigatebird is a large lightly built seabird with brownish-black plumage and a deeply forked tail. It has a wingspan of around 2 m (6.6 ft).