The Daily Bird: Northern Gannet

April 1, 2020
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Northern Gannet
Morus bassanus

Originally published April 8, 2018

by Stefan Martin
Some people associate spring migration with songbirds such as warblers or other delightfully petite and colorful passerines but there’s another bird that comes to my mind – the Northern Gannet.

Weighing just under eight pounds, with a five-and-a-half foot wingspan, the gannet is basically the extreme opposite of your typical songbird but can be just as mesmerizing. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to observe it in person, you know what I’m talking about.

With a diet consisting entirely of fish, this bird is specially designed for a life at sea. It’s body is missile-like, its wings long, thin, and tapered. Watching it hunt is nothing short of spectacular. When the bird spots a meal, it will suddenly shift toward the water, tuck its wings back straight behind its body, and plunge-dive at blinding speeds from upwards of 100 feet or more.

Seeing this in person is something I highly recommend. It’s a sight you won’t soon forget.

Where and when to find it: The best time to see Northern Gannets from the Connecticut coast is late March to mid April while they are migrating north to their breeding grounds in Newfoundland.

One hotspot in particular is Stratford Point. This property extends nearly a mile out into the Sound, at the mouth of the Housatonic River, historically a great location for large numbers of bait fish.

Ten or so were seen recently off Westport, 30 off Old Saybrook, several off Hammonasset and, on March 27, 591 off Stamford. 591!

A couple of years ago we counted a Connecticut state record 814 Gannets at one time – a day I will never forget.

What it looks like: Even with its large size and unique shape, the Northern Gannet can be mistaken for a few different birds at a distance, most commonly a gull. There are a few things to keep in mind when trying to identify this large pelagic species:

• Familiarize yourself with the bird’s contrasting plumage. Northern Gannets can take up to four years to reach their full adult plumage but, lucky for us, the majority of the birds seen in the state are adults. Adult Northern Gannets have bright white bodies with dark black wingtips or primaries and a long slender appearance with a noticeably long head projection. At a distance, this should stand out and help you distinguish it from other birds such as gulls.
• Note that gannets differ from gulls in behavior and flight. As I mentioned before, gannets will plunge-dive. If you see this behavior, you can immediately eliminate all gull species and feel confident with your identification.
• Watch the way the bird is flapping. When Gannets fly, they tend to flap and then glide, unlike Gulls, which (for the most part) will continuously flap.

Conservation status: The Northern Gannet is listed by the IUCN as a species of Least Concern based on an extensive range size, with populations on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and breeding sites in France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland and Norway, and small colonies in Newfoundland and Canada.

Stefan Martin is a staff conservationists for the Connecticut Audubon Society.

Photos courtesy of Mark Szantyr.