Northern Fulmar

Fulmarus glacialis

Audubon Illustration

John James Audubon, Birds of America (1827-1838). Public domain.

Migration Flyway

Showing primary migration corridor(s) for this species

Last Spotted Near You

View on eBird Wikipedia

About the Northern Fulmar

The northern fulmar, Arctic fulmar, or simply fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) is an abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hemisphere, with a single bird seen south of New Zealand. Fulmars come in one of two colour morphs; a light one in temperate populations, with white head and body and grey wings and tail, and a dark one in arctic populations, which is uniformly grey; intermediate birds are common. Though similar in appearance to gulls, fulmars are in fact members of the family Procellariidae, which includes petrels and shearwaters. The northern fulmar and its sister species, the southern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides), are the only extant members of the genus Fulmarus.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name: Fulmarus glacialis
Family: Shearwaters and Petrels
Order: Procellariiformes

Similar species

Other members of the shearwaters and petrels family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

Know when the Northern Fulmar turns up near you

Add it to your watchlist and draw an alert zone around the places you actually bird. Birdr checks eBird reports and tells you when one is seen inside it.

How rare bird alerts work →