Northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis

Identification Tips:

• Sexes similar
• Stocky pelagic bird only coming ashore to breed
• Large shearwater
• Thick yellow bill with tube on top
• Rapid wingbeats
• Glides on stiff wings

Light phase

• White head and underparts
• Gray back, upperwings, rump, and tail
• White "flash" in primaries visible from above
• Mostly white underwings

Gray phase

• Gray head, body, wings, and tail
• Paler underside of flight feathers and upper side of primaries
• Intermediate phase also occurs

Similar species:

Gulls flap their wings more slowly and smoothly and lack the tube on top of the bill. Similarly pelagic shearwaters and petrels are slimmer with more distinct patterning.