Animal Encyclopedia Category: Seabirds

Like many seagulls, the European herring gull eats a variety of prey and will both hunt and scavenge for suitable food. They forage for a variety of living, coastal invertebrates and for human garbage. In today’s human ecosystem, garbage accounts for a large percentage of this gull’s diet. When other seabirds form nesting colonies, European herring gulls will … Read more

Bald eagles eat mostly fish, with a variety of coastal and freshwater species included in their diet. Along the Pacific coast of North America, salmon and trout – particularly the pink salmon – form the vast majority of this species’ diet. In other areas, the species takes advantage of the locally common fish species. They are also known to … Read more

Like most seabirds, Atlantic puffins get all of their food from marine sources but nest on land. Their preferred prey includes forage fishes, including herrings, capelins, sprat, and others. While nesting, they generally feed close to their nesting sites but may go on longer feeding trips during other seasons. Atlantic puffins are pursuit divers – they “duck dive” … Read more

The jackass penguin is closely related to the temperate penguins of South America (the Humboldt penguin, the Galapagos penguin, and the Magellanic Penguin), and these four species are together known as the banded penguins. Jackass penguins lay clutches of two eggs in burrows that they dig out of the thick layers of guano (seabird droppings) … Read more

The brown pelican, like all seabirds, gets most of its food from marine sources. This species’ preferred prey includes small schooling fishes, like anchovies, sardines, and silversides. They feed by plunge diving. Unlike other diving birds (e.g., boobies), pelicans do not chase prey underwater and instead gulp large volumes of water, along with potential prey, near the surface. After … Read more

Like all boobies, the blue-footed booby gets all of its food from marine sources. This species’ preferred prey includes anchovies, sardines, and other small, pelagic fishes and perhaps the occasional squid. These prey species thrive in cold, highly productive areas where deep water upwells to the surface, so blue-footed boobies tend to be associated with those areas … Read more

Though Adélie penguins live mostly on the continent of Antarctica (and a few associated islands), they mate and nest on rocky shores, rather than on the ice. Both parents take turns caring for a clutch of two eggs that are laid in a stone nest. While one parent incubates the eggs, the other parent feeds. Adelie penguins are … Read more

Southern rockhopper penguins are small-bodied penguins, reaching heights of about two feet (0.6 m) and weights of only a few pounds. Southern rockhopper penguins have white fronts and black heads and hoods. Their beaks are bright orange, and their eyebrows are bright yellow. At the outer edge of the eyebrows, long yellow feathers extend off … Read more

As in all seabirds, southern giant petrels nest on land and feed at sea. They nest in groups, but in most places, they do not form the extremely dense colonies characteristic of several other species of seabird. This species prefers to nest on the ground rather than in trees or other vegetation and generally does not successfully … Read more

As in all seabirds, magnificent frigatebirds nest on land, but they spend almost all of their time in flight, searching for food. This species prefers to nest off of the ground, in mangrove forests and other trees or bushes, but they will nest on the ground in places where vegetation is sparse. During courtship, the male magnificent frigatebird … Read more