Bird of the Week – Northern Fulmar
The Northern Fulmar is a member of the family Procellaridae, the tubenoses.
Pale Morph Northern Fulmar, St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands
The tube-like structure on top of the bill allows the Northern Fulmar to excrete salt, making it independent of any need for fresh water. It some ashore only to lay eggs and raise its young. While it has a superficial resemblance to a gull, they are only distant relatives. This pretty lady was on a single egg.
The pale morph, in WC’s limited experience, is less common than the dark morph in Alaska waters.
Camera geek stuff: f11, 1/1600, ISO 100
For more bird photos, please visit Frozen Feather Images.
Iz there a virus going around silencing Mudpups? Iz there a cure for it?
for the Alaskan pups it is likely the weirdest January ever thing.
We are gaining over 3 mins a day of light now which is great but we have no snow. no dang snow! What’s up with that ?!
What’s up with temps in the 40s in January?!!!!
I planted spinach under row cover just to see if it will come up since everything is wacked already 🙂
I think the tubenose birds are fascinating! Thank you WC.
Etymology[edit]
Fulmarus glacialis can be broken down to the Old Norse word full meaning “foul” and mar meaning “gull”. “Foul-gull” is in reference to its stomach oil and also its superficial similarity to seagulls. Finally, glacialis is Latin for “glacial” because of its extreme northern range.[8]
Woo Hoo! Another bird that blows chunks at intruders. Related to Leon Albatrotski and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner,or not.