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northern gannet
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Adult Northern gannet, Morus bassanus, in flight above water with wings outstretched and black-tipped feathers visible. northern gannet
Northern gannets on Scotland's Bass Rock
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northern gannet

bird
Also known as: Morus bassanus, Sula bassana, solan goose
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Adult Northern gannet, Morus bassanus, in flight above water with wings outstretched and black-tipped feathers visible.
northern gannet Northern gannet (Morus bassanus, or Sula bassana).

The northern gannet is the largest of three oceanic bird species in the family Sulidae, found in the North Atlantic. These seabirds are primarily white with black-tipped wings and a yellowish head marked with black around the eyes. They possess a tapered beak and a pointed tail.

Gannets are expert fliers and spend most of their lives over water, diving with half-closed wings to catch fish and squid. They nest in dense colonies on cliffs, typically laying a single egg. The northern gannet, Morus bassanus, breeds on islands in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and northeastern Europe, and winters as far south as the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean.12

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