Northern Gannet

Morus bassanus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus, breeds on islands and coasts around the North Atlantic, from Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the British Isles, north-west France and northern Norway to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland. Outside the breeding season it ranges along the eastern and western North Atlantic, reaching south to the Canary Islands, north-west Africa, Florida and the northern Gulf of Mexico, with some birds also in the western Mediterranean. It nests in colonies, usually on offshore cliffs, and is known for its seasonal movements. It is the largest gannet and the largest seabird in the northern Atlantic.

Order

Suliformes

Family

Sulidae — Gannets, Boobies

Breeding range

Atlantic Ocean: islands off subarctic, n temperate coasts of North Atlantic Ocean: Iceland, Faroe Is., British Isles, nw France and n Norway (e North Atlantic); Gulf of St. Lawrence and Atlantic coast of Newfoundland (se Canada, w North Atlantic)

Nonbreeding range

to coastal e North Atlantic off sw Europe, w Mediterranean, Macaronesia s through Canary Is. (w of nw Africa) and nw Africa; to coastal w North Atlantic to Florida and n Gulf of Mexico