1. Seabirds

2. DEFINING A SEABIRD A bird has:
Feathers
Hollow bones
Wings
Endothermic (warm blooded)
Specialized lungs – air flows in one direction aided by air sacs
Live, feed and breed near the sea – depend on sea for food
Secrete salt from glands in beak or near eyes
Breed in colonies (95% of seabirds) – 10s to 1000s

3. Only 4% of the world’s 9000 bird species are seabirds
Of the 29 orders of birds
7 contain seabirds

4. Spenisciformes (penguins)
Gaviiformes (divers, loons & grebes)
Procellariiformes (albatrosses, petrels & shearwaters)
Pelecaniformes (pelicans, gannets, boobies, cormorants, frigatebirds & tropicbirds)
Anseriformes (ducks & geese)
Charadriiformes (gulls, terns and auks)

5. Spenisciformes - penguins
17 species – all found south of the equator
Most are found around Antarctica (or New Zealand/Australia/Southern America)
But the Galapagos penguin lives near the equator
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
Solid (not hollow) bones – so they can dive
Very hydrodynamic shape – swim up to 15 mph
Wing bones are fused – a solid flipper (instead of a wing)
Wings “fly” underwater – like sealions
Thick fat layer, plus feathers to insulate
Their feathers are like pins & not branched – denser packed
Plus behavioral adaptations (e.g. huddling)

6. Gaviiformes - divers and loons

7. Loons are called ‘divers’ in the UK
The northern hemisphere’s answer to penguins
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
Like penguins have solid (not hollow) bones
Simply by exhaling and emptying their air sacs they can become heavy enough to sink
Feet are near the backs of their bodies – greater thrust when diving
Have lobed feet (not webbed) – increased surface area
Can dive to depths of 100s of feet for several minutes
BUT – unlike penguins they can fly (although heavy)

8. Gaviiformes - grebes
Grebe

9. Procellariiformes - albatross
Unlike penguins & loons albatrosses do not spend much time in the water
Instead they fly over the ocean searching for prey
Usually found in the southern hemisphere
The albatrosses glide in the constant strong winds around Antarctica
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
Long wingspan (3 - 4 m) but narrow wings – perfect for long distance gliding
They have a tube on top of their beaks – allows them to detect changes wind currents
A long hooked beak for catching fish on the wing

10. Procellariiformes - petrels
Small sparrow-sized birds
They skim over the surface of the sea looking for food
Migrate to the equator during the winter
Breed in burrows to avoid predators
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
They have a tube on top of their beaks – like albatrosses
Also have a hooked beak like albatrosses
Secrete excess salt through their nose tubes
Don’t glide but flap rapidly, very quickly and low over the tops of waves
Unlike albatrosses, will dive into the water – sometimes flying through the crest of a wave

11. Procellariiformes - shearwaters
Also skim over the surface of the sea looking for food
Pelagic – mostly hunting on the open ocean
Have a beak and nose tube like the albatross & petrel

12. Pelecaniformes One of the largest groups of seabirds 67 species
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
All have fully webbed feet = TOTIPALMATE
Most have an elastic pouch of skin hanging below their beak

13. Pelecaniformes - pelicans
Large birds (with a wingspan of up to 3m)
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
Very thin hydrodynamic shape to dive into the water
They open their mouths use their throat pouches to “net” their prey

14. Pelecaniformes - boobies
Primarily tropical
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
Dive from heights of nearly 100’ onto prey
Torpedo shaped - for piercing the water’s surface

15. Pelecaniformes - gannets
Found in cool northern regions – nest on rocky cliffs
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
Like boobies, dive onto prey from height
Can hit the water at 60mph
Skull specially adapted to absorb the force of impact, and to protect their brains from damage

16. Pelecaniformes - cormorants
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
Even more streamlined for diving from height
Can dive to depths of 10 m or more
Some species are flightless with large webbed, rear situated feet
BUT their wings are not waterproof, so have to keep landing to allow their wings to dry

17. Pelecaniformes - frigatebirds
Much more agile in the air than the other pelecaniformes
Opportunistic feeders – mollusks, fish, turtles and even jellyfish
Will also frequently steal food from other seabirds

18. Pelecaniformes - tropicbirds
Feathers are more waterproof than frigatebirds and so can fly more over open ocean

19. Anseriformes –ducks & geese
4 species of duck (EIDER DUCKS) are marine
& 4 species of STEAMER ducks (3 are flightless)
They have soft fluffy (well insulating) feathers
The kelp goose is also marine and feeds on algae

20. Charadriiformes Account for nearly half of the seabird species
Including 50 species of gulls
44 species of terns
22 species of auk
8 species of skua (jaeger)

21. Charadriiformes - gulls
Adaptations to the marine environment include:
Hooked beaks, webbed feet and long powerful wings
Can’t dive like a loon, or fly like an albatross or swim as well as a cormorant – but are a “jack of all trades”
Very opportunistic feeders and able to find a niche in almost any open ocean or coastal environment

22. Charadriiformes - terns
Sometimes called “sea swallows” more graceful relative of gulls
Hunt for food rather than scavenge like gulls
Only have small webbed feet, so not good swimmers, swoop and catch prey on the wing

23. Charadriiformes - skuas
Called Jaegers in the US
Look like a cross between a hawk and a gull
Fierce predators with a bad attitude
Most inhabit the southern hemisphere (although the great skua is found in the north)

24. Charadriiformes - auks
Clumsy in the air but extremely good divers
Usually inhabit colder, northern hemisphere areas
Adaptations to a marine environment:
Narrow, parrot like beaks, that can scoop up several small fish at a time
Use their wings to fly underwater like penguins
BUT more buoyant than penguins and have to work harder to stay underwater

25. OTHER BIRDS FOUND IN THE MARINE ENVIROMENT
Although not officially SEABIRDS, other bird species use the marine environment:
Wading birds in coastal mudflats and estuaries
Herons, Egrets & Spoonbills – freshwater, but also seen in salt marches and estuaries
Flamingos – live in salt marshes and estuaries (as well as salt lakes) – filters brine shrimp out of the water
Kingfishers
Crows – especially the fish crow Eat fish and beach carrion
Falconformes: sea eagles and ospreys