Scientific name: Morus bassanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Bird group: Gannets and Cormorants
Field characters. Length 87-100 cm; wingspan 165-180 cm. A large goose-sized white seabird with long, narrow, black-tipped wings, long neck (as compared with gulls), pointed tail and long, pointed beak. In flight body has characteristic "cigar-shape". Young birds dark, speckled with white. Immatures at intermediate ages show various pied plumages. Flies with regular, rather rapid wing-beats, varied with occasional glides; when fishing birds dive headlong from the air into the sea, with wings stretched.
Voice. On the breeding grounds a loud, hoarse "urrah".
Distribution. Local; breeding colonies sometimes very large.
Habitat. Breeds on stacks, isolated rocky islands, precipitous cliffs of mainland or large islands.
Food. Mainly fish (ranging from 2.5-3.5 cm in length), captured after impressive plunging from 10-40 m, or by dive from surface. Birds may wander 100 miles or more from colony during fishing trips.
Eggs. Initially without markings, becoming brown/black during incubation. Ground colour white/pale translucent blue. Covered with chalky deposit: often thick, sometimes scratched or partly crumbled away. Shape subelliptical/long subelliptical. Size 79 x 50 mm (62-87 x 41-54), weight 105 g (81-130).