British Birds - Petrels, Shearwaters and Terns

Do you know what bird this is? It is strongly migratory, wintering in the subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as South Africa and Australia. Try question 9 to find out

British Birds - Petrels, Shearwaters and Terns

Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds. Shearwaters are extraordinarily long-lived. A bird breeding in Northern Ireland was ringed as an adult (at least 5 years old) in 1953. It was retrapped in 2003, at least 55 years old, the oldest known wild bird in the world. Apart from bathing, terns rarely swim, despite having webbed feet.

Which of these options do you prefer?

  1. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of http://photo-natur.de/
    • Group: Shearwaters and Petrels
    • Binomial: Fulmarus glacialis
    • Order: Procellariiformes
    • Family: Procellariidae
    • Status: Resident And Migrant Breeder, Passage Migrant
    • This grey and white seabird is related to the albatrosses.
    • They are long-lived.
    • They defend their nests from intruders by spitting out a foul-smelling oil.

  2. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of http://birdsofsanibel.free.fr/
    • Group: Terns
    • Binomial: Sterna sandvicensis
    • Order: Charadriiformes
    • Family: Sternidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • Feeds by plunge diving for fish, usually in marine environments, and the offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.
    • It has a population estimated at 460,000-500,000 individuals.

  3. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Joby Joseph
    • Group: Terns
    • Binomial: Sterna hirundo
    • Order: Charadriiformes
    • Family: Sternidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • These delightful silvery-grey and white birds have long tails which have earned them the nickname 'sea-swallow'.
    • They have a buoyant, graceful flight and frequently hover over water before plunging down for a fish.

  4. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Dan Irizarry
    • Group: Shearwaters and Petrels
    • Binomial: Puffinus gravis
    • Order: Procellariiformes
    • Family: Procellariidae
    • Status: Passage Migrant
    • It is one of only a few bird species to migrate from breeding grounds in the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere, the normal pattern being the other way round.
    • It readily follows fishing boats.

  5. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of www.tintazul.com.pt/por/index.html
    • Group: Storm Petrels
    • Binomial: Hydrobates pelagicus
    • Order: Procellariiformes
    • Family: Hydrobatidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • A small bird, the size of a house martin, which it superficially resembles with its dark plumage and white rump.
    • Only in Atlantic storms might this species be pushed into the headlands of south-western Ireland and England.

  6. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of http://www.fws.gov/
    • Group: Storm Petrels
    • Binomial: Oceanodroma leucorhea
    • Order: Procellariiformes
    • Family: Hydrobatidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • It is specially protected by law and it is important that its breeding colonies are protected from introduced predators.
    • Spends most of its time at sea, only approaching land to breed and then only at night.

  7. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Toivo Toivanen & Tiina Toppila
    • Group: Terns
    • Binomial: Sterna paradisaea
    • Order: Charadriiformes
    • Family: Sternidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • The species is strongly migratory, seeing two summers each year as it migrates along a winding route to the oceans around Antarctica and back, a round trip of about 70,900 km (c. 44,300 miles) each year.

  8. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Martin Meyrs
    • Group: Shearwaters and Petrels
    • Binomial: Puffinus puffinus
    • Order: Procellariiformes
    • Family: Procellariidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • This bird looks like a flying cross, with its wing held at right angles to the body, and it changes from black to white as the black upperparts and white undersides are alternately exposed as it travels low over the sea.

  9. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of 49828152@N00
    • Group: Terns
    • Binomial: Sternula albifrons
    • Order: Charadriiformes
    • Family: Sternidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • This bird breeds on the coasts and inland waterways of temperate and tropical Europe and Asia.
    • It is strongly migratory, wintering in the subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as South Africa and Australia.

  10. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/jmuchaxo/
    • Group: Shearwaters and Petrels
    • Binomial: Puffinus mauretanicus
    • Order: Procellariiformes
    • Family: Procellariidae
    • Status: Passage Migrant
    • It is silent at sea, but at night the breeding colonies are alive with raucous cackling calls.
    • This species nests in burrows which are visited only at night to avoid predation by large gulls.
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