Fulmar
Fulmars are the sea birds which belongs to family Procellariidae and genus Fulmarus. There are two closely related fulmars, Southern Fulmar and Northern Fulmar which have the same niche but live in different oceans.
Northern Fulmar or only Fulmar inhabit in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean. They are very common in northern Britain. However the Southern Fulmar lives in the Southern Hemisphere. These birds look like gulls, but are real petrels.
Northern Fulmar have grey white color and a yellow beak. They varies in length from 43 to 52 cm. However their wingspan varies from 101 to 107 cm. On the other hand the Southern Fulmar has pale grey color above and white color below. Their size ranges from 45 cm to 50 cm, while they have a wingspan of 115-120 cm. Southern Fulmar has dark win tips.
Fulmars are also called as "tube-noses", as they have the tube on the top of the bill. The tube contains the nostril which helps the fulmars to smell the food while finding at the sea. Fulmar lives on eating fish, squid, crustaceans, offal or oil. They also follow the commercial fishing boats, to eat the food discarded from it.
Fulmars are pelagic birds, which fly above the open sea and come to land only for breeding. Fulmars nests and breeds on cliffs. During the breeding season, the bird lays a single white egg on cliff. The young bird also looks like the parent birds. Fulmars have one special characteristic that they eject some foul-smelling oil from their stomach for up to 2 m. Like this the bird defence itself when some visitor approaches.
Fulmar's walk is not gracious, but their flight is good. They have thick neck and thick bill. Their bill is yellowish colored. Fulmar is a colonial bird, who lives in huge colonies on remote islands. They are one of the long lived sea birds, which can live more than 40 years.
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