Northern Fulmar

The Northern Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, Fulmar,| [2] or Arctic Fulmar| [4]  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.

Taxonomy
The Northern Fulmar and its sister, the Southern Fulmar, are the  extant  members of the  genus   Fulmarus . The fulmars are in turn a member of the order   Procellariiformes, and they all share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns ; however, nostrils on albatrosses are on the sides of the bill, as opposed to the rest of the order, including fulmars, which have nostrils on top of the upper  bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between 7 and 9 horny plates. One of these plates makes up the hooked portion of the upper bill, called the maxillary unguis. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters  and  triglycerides  that is stored in the  proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.| [5] It will mat the  plumage  of avian predators, and can lead to their death.| [6]  Finally, they also have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose.| [6]

The Northern Fulmar was first described as Fulmarus glacialis by Carl Linnaeus, in 1761, based on a specimen from within the  Arctic Circle , on  Spitsbergen .| [4]

edit ] Subspecies
The Northern Fulmar consists of three sub-species :| [7]
 * Fulmarus glacialis glacialis, the nominate race, which breeds in the high Arctic  regions of the  North Atlantic
 * Fulmarus glacialis auduboni, which breeds in the low Arctic  and  boreal  regions of the  North Atlantic
 * Fulmarus glacialis rodgersii, which breeds on the coast of eastern Siberia  and the  Alaskan Peninsula

edit ] Etymology
Fulmarus glacialis can be broken down to the Old Norse  word full meaning "foul" and mar meaning "gull". "Foul-gull" is in reference to its stomach oil and also its superficial similarity to seagulls. Finally, glacialis is Latin  for "glacial" because of its extreme northern range.| [8]

edit ] Description
The Northern Fulmar has a wingspan of 102–112 cm (40–44 in)| [4] and is 46 cm (18 in).| [9]  | [10]  | [11]  Body weight can range from 450 to 1,000 g (0.99 to 2.2 lb).| [12]  These  species  are grey and white with a pale yellow, thick, bill and bluish legs;| [13]  however there is both a light morph and dark  morph. In the Pacific Ocean  there is an intermediate morph as well. All morphs have certain similarities, such as only the dark morph has more than dark edges on the underneath, and they all have pale inner primaries  on the top of the wings. The Pacific morph has a darker tail than the Atlantic morph.| [4] | [9]  | [10]  | [13]  | [14]  <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ud_14-0">| [15]  <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Dunn_15-0">| [16]

Like other petrels, their walking ability is limited, but they are strong fliers, with a stiff  wing  action quite unlike the  gulls. They look bull-necked compared to gulls, and have short stubby bills.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Peterson_12-2">| [13] They are long-lived, with a lifespan of 31 years not uncommon.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BLC_16-0">| [17]