How to Identify Common Seabirds

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Fulmar Whether it's a coastal walk or a sea cliff adventure, you're bound to encounter seabirds on any day out to the British coast. But can you tell your guillemot from your gannet? As a supplement to our guides on moorland birds and upland raptors, the RSPB has made us a basic spotter's guide to the most common seabird species.

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Clauso 13 Jun 2019
In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Albatross! Albatross! Albatross!... Gannet on a stick.

 subtle 13 Jun 2019
In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Where are the seagulls though?

 pauls911 13 Jun 2019
In reply to subtle:

They're just called Gulls now and they're all down at the local civic amenity site (aka the tip), or waiting to mug you outside the chip shop.

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Are gannets really larger than sea eagles? Perhaps the latter don’t count.

jcm

 Harry Jarvis 13 Jun 2019
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

> Are gannets really larger than sea eagles? Perhaps the latter don’t count.

The latter don't count as seabirds. They are raptors. 

Post edited at 11:54
 Simon Caldwell 13 Jun 2019
In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Surprised to see no mention of terns

In reply to Harry Jarvis:

Pretty sea-based raptors, but OK! Perhaps a seabird is defined as a bird that goes in the sea to a greater extent than its claws. Although albatrosses are sea birds and they don’t swim - or do they?

Are eiders or scoters sea birds, I wonder?

jcm

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

An easier guide below:

Pukes on you, shitehawk. 

Shits on you, shitehawk. 

Dive bombs you, shitehawk. 

Skwawks violently at you, shitehawk. 

Looks cute, puffin. 

 Harry Jarvis 13 Jun 2019
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

> Are eiders or scoters sea birds, I wonder?

They are ducks.

 Martin W 13 Jun 2019
In reply to Harry Jarvis:

Sea ducks or Merginae to be precise.

 toad 13 Jun 2019
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Ive seen albatrosses bobbing on the sea in NZ. They are HUGE! 

 ChrisJD 14 Jun 2019
In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

All these articles about birds have failed to answer 'the' question:

What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 Coel Hellier 14 Jun 2019
In reply to ChrisJD:

> All these articles about birds have failed to answer 'the' question:

It's also not much use on the key question of cormorants versus shags. 

 Myr 14 Jun 2019
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

> Pretty sea-based raptors, but OK!

'Sea eagle' is a slightly misleading name. White-tailed eagles require large bodies of water or wetland rather than the sea specifically. Some of our 'sea eagles' never visit the sea - for example there are pairs breeding in inland Sutherland, Strathspey, and the Angus glens.

Clauso 14 Jun 2019
In reply to Myr:

> ... Some of our 'sea eagles' never visit the sea - for example there are pairs breeding in inland Sutherland, Strathspey, and the Angus glens.

They're probably not happy about being inland though. I'll bet that they're stunned and secretly pining for the fjords.


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