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A Northern fulmar swims on the sea

Fulmar

Fulmars are identifiable by the prominent, tubular nostrils on top of their bills. Breeding pairs are monogamous and rejoin their mates each year at the same nest site. Fulmar chicks greet potential predators with a particularly hostile reception, bringing up a stinking oily substance from their stomachs and squirting it in an accurately aimed jet. Fulmars are one of the few species of bird with a well-developed sense of smell, which they employ to detect fish oil scents when searching for prey.

Scientific name: Fulmarus glacialis

Rank: Species

Common names:

  • Arctic fulmar,
  • Northern fulmar

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Fulmar taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Fulmar can be found in a number of locations including: Arctic, Europe, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Fulmar distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Least Concern

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Year assessed: 2009

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The Northern Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, Fulmar, or Arctic Fulmar is a highly abundant sea bird found primarily in subarctic regions of the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans. Fulmars come in one of two color morphs: a light one which is almost entirely white, and a dark one which is uniformly grey. Though similar in appearance to gulls, fulmars are in fact members of the Procellariidae family, which include petrels and shearwaters. It and the Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialodes) together comprise the only extant species in the genus Fulmarus.

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