1. Common Characteristics
2. Classification
3. Tubnose Family
4. Pelican Family
5. Gull Family
6. Penguin Family

Common Characteristics of Birds

1. Endothermic
2. Fore limbs are wings
3. Feathers
4. Lay shelled eggs

Common Characteristics of Seabirds

1. Obtain their food from the sea and avoid inland regions
2. Seek remote and inaccessible areas for reproduction
3. Have salt glands around their eyes that secrete excess salt through their nasal cavities
4. Approximately two hundred eighty species
5. Most numerous in the southern hemisphere
6. e.g., albatrosses, pelicans, seagulls, penguins

Oceanic Seabirds

1. Oceanic birds which take long flights over the open ocean are rarer than those found in coastal areas where waters are productive
2. Oceanic birds include albatrosses, shearwaters, petrels, gannets and puffins

Shorebirds are not Seabirds

1. Shorebirds use the ocean on a part time basis for a food source
2. Reproduce and spend summers inland on freshwater and winter on the seashore
3. e.g., ducks, grebes, loons, herons, egrets, sandpipers, plovers

Four family Classification

1. Tubenoses
2. Pelican-like birds
3. Gull-like birds
4. Penguins

Tubenoses

1. Ninety-six species: e.g., albatrosses, fulmars, shearwaters, petrels
2. Cool waters globally (shearwaters also found in the tropics)

Tubenose Anatomy

1. Well-developed external nostrils detect odors and determine air speed
2. The large albatross (4 meter wingspan) can soar on the wind and spend months at sea
3. Some of the Petrels are among the smallest seabirds

Tubenose Feeding

1. All catch fish, squid or zooplankton at the surface
2. Surface seizing in albatrosses and fulmars
3. Pursuit plunging in shearwaters (hence name)
4. Surface pattering in petrels
5. Scavenging in petrels
6. Pursuit diving with wings in petrels

Pelican-like Birds

1. Fifty-five species: ex. pelicans, cormorants, boobies, gannets, frigatebirds
2. Warm waters globally
3. Colonial nesters

Pelican-like Anatomy

1. Gular pouch developed for fishing or for breeding displays
2. Large birds: pelicans weigh up to 11 kilograms and frigatebirds have wing spans up to 2.5 meters

Pelican-like Feeding

1. All catch fish, squid, or zooplankton
2. Dipping in frigatebirds
3. Aerial pursuit and pirating in frigatebirds

Gull-like Birds

1. One hundred fourteen species: e.g., gulls, skuas, terns, skimmers and alcids
2. Global distribution but more abundant and diverse in the northern hemisphere
3. Colonial nesters

Gull-like Anatomy

1. Mostly gray or brown and white with straight bills
2. Medium sized birds

Alcids

1. e.g., puffins, razorbills, guillemots, murres
2. Inhabit cold and cool waters of the northern hemisphere
3. Swim underwater with wings
4. Most are poor flyers

Gull-like Feeding

1. All eat fish and zooplankton
2. Dipping, scavenging, and surface seizing in gulls
3. Aerial pursuit and pirating in skuas
4. Hawking, nest robbing and scavenging in skuas
5. Surface plunging in terns
6. Skimming in skimmers
7. Pursuit diving with wings in alcids

Gull-like Migrations

1. Migrate between feeding and breeding grounds
2. Arctic tern breeds in the Arctic but summers in the Antarctic
3. Skuas also have pole-to-pole migrations

Penguins

1. Fifteen species
2. Inhabit cold waters of the southern hemisphere
3. Colonial nesters
4. Flightless

Penguin Anatomy

1. Mostly black backed and white breasted
2. Large birds: Emperor penguin up to 45 kilograms and 3.7 feet tall

Penguin Feeding

1. Feed on fish, squid, and krill
2. Swim underwater with wings
3. Clocked up to 16 kilometers per hour
4. Can remain underwater for up to ten minutes and dive to depths of up to 265 meters