Latest Seabird Stories

The Great Frigate bird (fregata minor) is a big dispersive seabird in the frigatebird family. Their major nesting populations are found in the Pacific, including the Galapagos Islands and the Indian Oceans, plus a population in the South Atlantic. This bird is a lightly built large seabird up to 105 cm in length with feathers that are mostly black. This species shows sexual dimorphism; the female bird is bigger than the adult male with a white throat and breast, and the male’s scapular...

The Great Shearwater (puffinus gravis) is a large shearwater in a seabird family called Procellariidae. There is unclear evidence of its relationships. The Great Shearwater belongs to a group consisting of large species that can be distinguished as genus Ardenna; within these, it might be associated with the other blunt-tailed black-billed species Short-tailed Shearwater and particularly the Sooty Shearwater. On the other hand, it could be a monotypic subgenus (ardenna sensu stricto), a...

A large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds, this species is well-known as the Common Loon in North America and the Great Northern Diver in Eurasia; its current name is a compromise proposed by the International Ornithological Committee. There are 5 loon species that make up the genus Gavia, the only genus of the family Gavidae and order Gaviiformes. The Great Northern Loon is only one of those 5 species. The Yellow Billed Loon or the While Billed Diver is a large black headed...

Brandt's Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus), is a species of marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds. It inhabits the Pacific coast of North America. Its summer range extends from Alaska to the Gulf of California. The populations north of Vancouver Island migrate south during the winter. The bird’s specific name, penicillatus, is Latin for ‘pencil of hairs,’ in reference to the white plumes on its neck and back during the early breeding season. The common name honors...

The South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki), is a species of seabird that is found on the Antarctic coasts. It is migratory and winters at sea in the Pacific Indian and Atlantic Oceans. In the eastern North Atlantic Ocean it is replaced by the Great Skua. It was formerly known as the MacCormick's Skua as its binomial was named after the naval surgeon Robert McCormick, who collected the type specimen. This is a large Skua which is nearly 21 inches long. It has a massive barrel chest...