Seabirds Worth Knowing, From Albatrosses to Puffins

A puffin chases fish underwater by beating its wings. During breeding season its bill is also a way to carry several small fish back to a burrow. Scan the water near a Maine breeding island from a designated boat trip and look for a compact black-and-white bird flying low.

Gannets fold their long wings back as they plunge at fish. A colony offers another view of the same species, with adults flying close to the cliffs and crowded birds on the rock. Cape St. Mary’s in Newfoundland has a designated overlook for the Bird Rock colony.

One of the largest wingspans of any living bird lets this albatross use ocean winds to cover long distances. Tracking from Bird Island, South Georgia, shows how much ground breeding adults can cover between nest visits. In open water look for long wings held firm through repeated arcs.

This small gull spends much of its life offshore. Breeding birds gather on narrow ledges, where the black legs can be easier to see than at sea. At places such as Bempton Cliffs, look from an established viewpoint for lines of birds returning to the same strip of rock.

The bird alternates quick wingbeats with low, tilted glides over the waves. The breeding colonies can feel quiet during daylight because many birds return to their burrows after dark. Skomer is one place to learn that difference from an organized stay or to watch for birds offshore.

The migrations tracked by the British Antarctic Survey connect northern breeding areas with waters around Antarctica. Watching it feed tells another part of the story. Look over coastal water near a breeding area for a slim tern that can hover briefly and dip toward the surface.

A stocky brown seabird with broad white flashes in the wings, the great skua may pursue another bird until it drops its catch. Look for it over the sea or from a designated coastal path in the northern Scottish islands. An active pursuit can reveal its identity sooner than plumage at a distance.

A long forked tail and pointed wings help identify a frigatebird overhead. During courtship a male inflates the red pouch at his throat. At Dry Tortugas, watch the air above the islands from an authorized visitor area. There’s no need to approach a nesting site to see the bird.

Murre colonies can pack birds shoulder to shoulder on bare ledges. Offshore the same bird uses its wings to pursue prey below the surface. At Oregon’s Yaquina Head, look toward the offshore nesting rocks from the viewing area, then scan the water for dark heads and upright birds.

This small dark seabird seems to walk across the waves as it feeds. Its feet patter on the surface while its wings keep it up, as in this photograph from off Antarctica. The species breeds mainly in southern waters and is regularly seen offshore in the Gulf of Maine in summer.

This white petrel is closely associated with the Antarctic seas, where it feeds in and around pack ice. Some breeding sites are inland on exposed rock. If you encounter one at sea, the black bill and white body help distinguish it against the darker water or rock.

When this dark shearwater banks over the waves, light catches its pale underwings. Tracking birds from New Zealand has shown routes across the Pacific to rich northern feeding waters. Look for migrating birds offshore in Monterey Bay.

During courtship, a blue-footed booby lifts its feet in turn in front of its partner. It also plunges into the sea after fish. North Seymour in the Galápagos has a designated visitor site where you can look for the species.