Northern Gannet

Adults are strikingly white with distinct black wingtips and a pale yellowish-buff head and neck. Juveniles are dark brown overall, gradually acquiring white feathers over several years until reaching adult plumage at about 4-5 years of age. Sexes look alike.

All-white body, golden-buff head, black-tipped wings, pointed bill, and bright blue ring around the eye.

Length: 85-97 cm (33-38 in); Wingspan: 170-180 cm (67-71 in); Weight: 2.2-3.6 kg (4.9-7.9 lbs).

Noisy at breeding colonies, giving harsh, grating calls sounding like 'urrah-urrah' or 'kerr-kerr'.

Mainly small schooling fish such as herring, sandlances, capelin, and mackerel, caught by dramatic plunge-diving from heights of up to 40 meters.

Pelagic marine environments and coastal waters, breeding exclusively on steep sea cliffs, rocky islands, and stacks.

Migratory; northern populations move south for the winter, wintering in the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean down to West Africa.

Breeds in dense colonies on cliff ledges or flat ground. Constructs a bulky nest of seaweed, earth, and debris. Usually lays a single chalky-blue egg, incubated by both parents using their webbed feet.

Masked Booby or Nazca Booby (rarely overlap in range; Northern Gannet is larger with black wingtips extending further) and gulls (which lack the torpedo shape and plunge-diving habits).

Acts as a top marine predator and bioindicator of fish stock health in North Atlantic marine ecosystems.

Least Concern, with stable to increasing global population trends.

Visit major coastal seabird colonies during the breeding season (such as cliffs or offshore islands) or watch from headlands and ocean-facing cliffs with binoculars during migration.

Northern Gannets enter the water at speeds up to 100 km/h (60 mph). They have specialized air sacs in their face and chest that cushion the impact of hitting the water.