Seabird Characteristics Page 3

Plumage
Water Intake

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Plumage

Black, White and Brown
Seabirds are not very colorful. Most plumages are combinations of black, white and brown. Most seabirds do not exhibit a difference in plumage between males and females. Seaducks, phlaropes and frigatebirds are exceptions to the later.

Most seabirds have white underparts. When viewed from below by a predator like a shark, the body is back lighted and blends in with the light. The same is true of most animals that live in the sea including whales, seals, and sharks.

When the animal is viewed from above, the dark color blends in with the dark background.

There are some notable exceptions including all dark shearwaters, Sooty, Light-mantled Sooty and Black-footed Albatross.

Razorbill photographed on Machias Seal Island by Emmalee Tarry

Atlantic Puffin has colorful bill in breeding plumage

Some seabirds exhibit colorful feathers or body parts during breeding.

The Atlantic Puffin has a colorful bill in breeding plumage. The colored part sloughs off after breeding leaving a smaller dull bill.

Rhinoceros Auklet also has a colorful bill. Some penguins and auklets have colorful feathers on their heads.

Adult Gannets have golden heads as do the Stellar's and Galapagos Albatrosses.

Water Intake
Salt Glands
One of the big problems man has at sea is his inability to drink seawater because of the high salt content. Seabirds do not drink seawater, but rather get water from their food and ingest water with their food accidentally. They must have a mechanism to remove the excess salt. Many seabirds have special salt excreting glands on the top of their heads. The birds known as Tubenoses have these glands drain through separate tubes. In other seabirds the glands drain through the nostrils. There is no apparent advantage to having the separate tubes.

Birds That Require Fresh Water
Gulls do not have salt excreting glands and must drink fresh water. While standing on the cliffs at Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland, I watched an impressive stream of Kiitwakes flying through a wash to drink from a small lake.

Small fresh water ponds on Skommer Island attract gulls which then prey on the Manx Shearwaters nesting on the island.

What Is A Seabird

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Page author: Emmalee Tarry