The southern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialoides'') is a
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
of the
Southern Hemisphere. Along with the
northern fulmar, ''F. glacialis'', it belongs to the
fulmar
The fulmars are tube-nosed seabirds in the family Procellariidae. The family includes two extant species, and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene.
Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on s ...
genus ''Fulmarus'' in the family
Procellariidae
The family (biology), family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prion (bird), prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order (biology), orde ...
, the true
petrel
Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the phylogenetic order Procellariiformes.
Description
Petrels are a monophyletic group of marine seabirds, sharing a characteristic of a nostril arrangement that results in the name "tubenoses". Petrels enco ...
s. It is also known as the Antarctic fulmar
or silver-grey fulmar.
It is largely pale grey above and white below with a distinctive white patch on the wing. It breeds on the coast of
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
and on surrounding islands, moving north in winter. It nests in
colonies
A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...
on cliffs, laying a single
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
on a ledge or crevice. Its diet includes
krill
Krill ''(Euphausiids)'' (: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order (biology), order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word ', meaning "small ...
,
fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
and
squid
A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
picked from the water's surface.
Taxonomy
The southern fulmar
formally described and illustrated in 1840 by the Scottish zoologist
Andrew Smith in his major work ''Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa''. He placed it with all the other petrels in the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''
Procellaria
Procellaria is a genus of Southern Ocean long-winged seabirds related to prions, and within the order Procellariiformes. The black petrel (''Procellaria parkinsoni'') ranges in the Pacific Ocean, and as far north as Central America. The spec ...
'' and coined the
binomial name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
''Procellaria glacialoides''. The southern fulmar is now placed with the
northern fulmar in the genus ''
Fulmarus'' that was introduced in 1826 by the English naturalist
James Stephens.
The genus name comes from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
''Fúlmár'' meaning "foul-mew" or "foul-gull" because of the birds' habit of ejecting a foul-smelling oil. The specific epithet ''glacialoides'' combines the specific ''glacialis'' introduced by
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
in 1761 for the northern fulmar with the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''-oidēs'' meaning "resembling".
The species is
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...
: no
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
are recognised.
[ Molecular data suggests that the two fulmar species diverged during the ]Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
epoch.[
]
Description
It is a fairly large, bulky petrel, long with a wingspan of .[ The male has an average weight of while the smaller female weighs around . These weights increase to at the start of a shift incubating the eggs.][ The male has a ]wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
length of , bill length of , tarsus length of and tail length of . The female has a wing length of , bill length of , tarsus length of and tail length of .[
The bird flies with a mixture of shallow flaps and long glides, often looking down to scan the water. The wings are fairly broad and rounded and are held stiff. The ]plumage
Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...
is mainly pale silvery-grey above and white below. The head is white with a pale grey crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
. The wingtips are blackish with a large white patch and the wings have a dark rear edge. The legs and feet are pale blue. The bill is pink with a black tip and dark bluish naricorns. First-year birds have a more slender bill than the adults.[
It is usually silent but has loud, cackling calls which are uttered at the nest or in feeding flocks. Courting birds produce soft droning and guttural croaking calls.
]
Distribution and habitat
There are colonies on a number of the islands around Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
such as the South Sandwich Islands
The South Sandwich Islands () are a chain of uninhabited volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. They are administered as part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The chain lies in the sub-A ...
, South Orkney Islands
The South Orkney Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands, islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula[South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...]
, Bouvet Island
Bouvet Island ( ; ) is an uninhabited subantarctic volcanic island and dependency of Norway. It is a protected nature reserve, and situated in the South Atlantic Ocean at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it is the world's most extre ...
, and Peter I Island
Peter I Island () is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Bellingshausen Sea, from continental Antarctica. It is territorial claims in Antarctica, claimed as a Dependent territory, dependency of Norway and, along with Bouvet Island and Queen Ma ...
. The bird also breeds at several sites along the mainland coast of Antarctica.[
At sea, it mainly occurs along the outer edge of the ]pack ice
Pack or packs may refer to:
Music
* Packs (band), a Canadian indie rock band
* ''Packs'' (album), by Your Old Droog
* ''Packs'', a Berner album
Places
* Pack, Styria, defunct Austrian municipality
* Pack, Missouri, United States (US)
* ...
in summer with water temperatures of −1.5 to 0.5 °C.[ In winter, it regularly ranges north to around 40°S latitude. It occurs further north in the cool waters of the ]Humboldt Current
The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.Montecino, Vivian, and Carina B. Lange. "The Humboldt Current System: Ecosystem components and pro ...
, reaching Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
. Small numbers are seen off the coasts of South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, southern Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Many birds can be washed up on beaches after storms. There are several unconfirmed reports from the west coast of North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
.[
It is a common species with a population of at least 4 million individuals.][ About a million pairs breed on the South Sandwich Islands alone.][ The species is not thought to be at risk of extinction and is classed as ]least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
by Birdlife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
.
Behaviour
Breeding
The breeding colonies may contain hundreds of birds and are on cliffs in ice-free areas with the birds arriving in October. The courtship display consists of a pair sitting alongside each other while calling, waving their heads and nibbling and preening each other. The nest is a shallow scrape lined with stone chips. It is built in a spot sheltered from the wind on a ledge or scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits.
The term ''scree'' is ap ...
slope or in a crevice. A single, white egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
is laid during late November or early December. It measures and weighs about .[ It is incubated for about 45 days with both parents taking turns in stints of 3–9 days. The ]down feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and p ...
s of the young birds are initially white apart from a blue-grey wash on the mantle. The second set of down feathers is grey on the upperparts and flanks while the rest of the underparts and the forehead remain white.[ The young ]fledge
Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight.
This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...
after around 52 days. Poor weather can lead to high mortality rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular Statistical population, population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically ...
s among eggs and chicks and they are also preyed on by skuas and sheathbills.[ Breeding success increases as the parents mature, improving from 48% at age 6–8 to 87% at age 18–20.][
]
Feeding
Southern fulmars frequently gather in flocks, often with other species of seabird such as Cape petrels, when there is a concentration of food like a school of krill
Krill ''(Euphausiids)'' (: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order (biology), order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word ', meaning "small ...
or around whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
ships and trawlers Trawler may refer to:
Boats
* Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing
* Naval trawler
Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, Fir ...
. Krill and other crustacean
Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
s are the most important component of the diet but the species also feeds on small fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
such as the Antarctic silverfish and squid
A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
such as '' Psychroteuthis'', '' Gonatus'' and '' Galiteuthis''.[ Food is usually picked from the surface of the water but the bird will occasionally dive.][
]
References
External links
Southern fulmar photos
{{Taxonbar, from=Q181326
southern fulmar
Birds of Antarctica
Birds of the Falkland Islands
Birds of South Australia
Birds of New Zealand
Birds of Patagonia
Birds of Southern Africa
Birds of the Southern Ocean
Birds of islands of the Atlantic Ocean
Birds of subantarctic islands
southern fulmar