Description
The Northern Fulmar has a wingspan of 102–112 cm (40–44 in) and is 46 cm (18 in). Body weight can range from 450 to 1,000 g (0.99 to 2.2 lb). These species are grey and white with a pale yellow, thick, bill and bluish legs; however there is both a light morph and dark morph. In the Pacific Ocean there is an intermediate morph as well. All morphs have certain similarities, such as only the dark morph has more than dark edges on the underneath, and they all have pale inner primaries on the top of the wings. The Pacific morph has a darker tail than the Atlantic morph.
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, with a lifespan of 31 years not uncommon.
| Location | Breeding population | Winter population | Breeding trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faroe Islands | 600,000 pairs | 500,000–3,000,000 individuals | stable |
| Greenland | 120,000–200,000 pairs | 10,000–100,000 individuals | stable |
| France | 1,300–1,350 pairs | 100–500 individuals | increasing |
| Germany | 102 pairs | increasing | |
| Iceland | 1,000,000–2,000,000 pairs | 1,000,000—5,000,000 individuals | decreasing |
| Ireland | 33,000 pairs | increasing | |
| Denmark | 2 pair | 200–300 individuals | increasing |
| Norway | 7,000–8,000 pairs | increasing | |
| Svalbard | 500,000–1,000,000 pairs | increasing | |
| Russia (Europe) | 1,000–2,500 pairs | ||
| United Kingdom | 506,000 pairs | ||
| Canada, Russia (Asia), & USA | 2,600,000–4,200,000 pairs | ||
| Total (adult individuals) | 15,000,000–30,000,000 | increasing |
Read more about this topic: Northern Fulmar
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“I fancy it must be the quantity of animal food eaten by the English which renders their character insusceptible of civilisation. I suspect it is in their kitchens and not in their churches that their reformation must be worked, and that Missionaries of that description from [France] would avail more than those who should endeavor to tame them by precepts of religion or philosophy.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The great object in life is Sensation—to feel that we exist, even though in pain; it is this “craving void” which drives us to gaming, to battle, to travel, to intemperate but keenly felt pursuits of every description whose principal attraction is the agitation inseparable from their accomplishment.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“Do not require a description of the countries towards which you sail. The description does not describe them to you, and to- morrow you arrive there, and know them by inhabiting them.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)