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Home/Species/ Northern Fulmar

Fulmarus glacialis

(Linnaeus, 1761)

Northern Fulmar

G5Secure Found in 13 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102679
Element CodeABNDB01010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderProcellariiformes
FamilyProcellariidae
GenusFulmarus
Other Common Names
Fulmar boréal (FR) Fulmar Norteño (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Apparently constitutes a superspecies with F. glacialoides (AOU 1998).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-07
Change Date1996-11-20
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Range Extent Comments
Discontinuously circumpolar, breeding in the north Atlantic, north Pacific, and Arctic oceans. In North America breeds in colonies along the coasts of Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, and in Greenland (Godfrey 1966). Highly pelagic. Two large colonies in the Bering Sea include light-plumaged birds almost exclusively, whereas dark-plumaged birds dominate colonies in the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Pelagic. Nests in colonies primarily on sea cliffs, less frequently on low flat rocky islands.

Ecology

Hunted for flesh and feathers. Nests raided by arctic weasels, glaucous and herring gulls. See Hatch (1987) for demographic data from Alaska.

Reproduction

Egg laying occurs May-July (early June in western Gulf of Alaska). Clutch size: 1. One brood per year. Incubation by both parents, in turn, lasts 46-51 days. Young leave nest at 49-58 days. First breeds at 7-9 years. Nesting colony may include up to 200,000 birds.
Terrestrial Habitats
Bare rock/talus/screeCliff
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN4N,N5B
ProvinceRankNative
MarylandSNAYes
DelawareSNAYes
WashingtonS4NYes
New JerseySNAYes
North CarolinaSNAYes
MassachusettsS4NYes
MaineS3NYes
AlaskaS4N,S5BYes
New HampshireSNAYes
OregonSNAYes
Rhode IslandSNAYes
CanadaN4B,N5N
ProvinceRankNative
New BrunswickS4N,S5MYes
British ColumbiaS1B,S4NYes
Island of NewfoundlandS1BYes
LabradorS1BYes
QuebecS4NYes
Prince Edward IslandSNAYes
Nova ScotiaS5NYes
NunavutS4BYes
Roadless Areas (13)
Alaska (10)
AreaForestAcres
ChichagofTongass National Forest555,858
Copper River WetlandsChugach National Forest85,972
EudoraTongass National Forest195,022
GravinaTongass National Forest37,381
Port AlexanderTongass National Forest120,681
RevillaTongass National Forest29,298
South KruzofTongass National Forest55,193
Tenakee RidgeTongass National Forest20,527
Upper SitukTongass National Forest16,789
Yakutat ForelandsTongass National Forest323,648
Oregon (3)
AreaForestAcres
TahkenitchSiuslaw National Forest5,799
TenmileSiuslaw National Forest10,818
WoahinkSiuslaw National Forest5,309
References (23)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Barrett, R. T., and W. Vader. 1990. The status and conservation of breeding seabirds in Norway. Pages 323-333 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. Evans, P. G. H. 1984a. The seabirds of Greenland: their status and conservation. Pages 49-84 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
  6. Evans, P. G. H. 1984b. Status and conservation of seabirds in northwest Europe (excluding Norways and the USSR). Pages 293-321 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
  7. Fisher, J. 1952. The fulmar. Collins. 496 pp.
  8. Gaston, A. J., and J. M. Hipfner. 2000. Thick-billed Murre (<i>Uria lomvia</i>). No. 497 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors, The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  9. Gaston, A. J., et al. 1994. Population parameters of thick-billed murres at Coats Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Condor 96:935-948.
  10. Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
  11. Golovkin, A. N. 1984. Seabirds nesting in the USSR: the status and protection of populations. Pages 473-486 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
  12. Hatch, S. A. 1987. Adult survival and productivity of northern fulmars in Alaska. Condor 89:685-696.
  13. Hatch, S. A., and M. A. Hatch. 1990. Breeding seasons of oceanic birds in a subarctic colony. Can. J. Zool. 68:1664-1679.
  14. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  15. Lensink, C. J. 1984. The status and conservation of seabirds in Alaska. Pages 13-27 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Publ. No. 2.
  16. Mostello, C. S., N. A. Palaia, and R. B. Clapp. 2000. Gray-backed Tern (Sterna lunata). No. 525 in A. Poole and F. Gill (editors). The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 28 pp.
  17. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  18. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  19. Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 511 pp.
  20. Schreiber, E. A., R. W. Schreiber, and G. A. Schenk. 1996. Red-footed Booby (<i>Sula sula</i>). No. 241 in A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The Amerian Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC. 24 pp.
  21. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  22. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  23. Vyatkin, P. S. 1993. Nesting of the northern fulmar on the western Bering Sea coast. Condor 95:226-227.