Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus)
(aka Gannet Sula bassanus)
Adult Gannet, St Kilda, Scotland, August 2003 - click for larger image

Scotland

The Gannet breeds in large colonies on the coast and islands of north-west Europe with a few colonies in North America around Newfoundland. When not breeding, they spend their time out at sea in the North Atlantic and south to waters off West Africa.

Adult Gannet, Tynninghame, East Lothian, Scotland, September 2002 - click for larger image They are closely related to the more tropical boobies who possibly got their name from the fact that they were daft enough to let hungry sailors walk up to them and hit them over the head.

They are large birds about 1 metre long with a wingspan of around 1¾ metres.

Adult Gannet, Tyninghame. East Lothian, Scotland, June 2002 - click for larger image They nest in very large colonies called gannetries on isolated stacks, uninhabited islands or on steep cliffs where they are unlikely to be disturbed by humans or other predators. Gannetries have been mentioned in ancient manuscripts so, with regard to the 12 Scottish gannetries, we know that, for example, gannets have bred on St Kilda since before the 9th century, on the Bass Rock (which gave the specific name of bassanus) from before 1521 and on Ailsa Craig before 1526.
Sub-Adult Gannet, St Kilda, Scotland, August 2003 - click for larger image Gannetries continue to spread. First known breedings on Noss, Shetland were in 1914, on Hermaness, Unst in 1917, Fair Isle in 1974, Foula, Shetland in 1976 and the Shiants in 1984.

Numbers are huge. The largest colony with 19% of the world's population is on St. Kilda with over 60,000 pairs recorded in 1994. The Bass Rock has around 40,000 pairs.

3rd-Winter Gannet, St Kilda, Scotland, August 2003 - click for larger image Gannets take about 4 years to reach adult plumage. Photos 4 and 5 show sub-adult plumage, probably 3rd-summer birds. Although not breeding yet these birds can be seen around breeding colonies whereas younger birds tend to stay out at sea all year round.
Nestling Gannet (Guga), St Kilda, Scotland, August 2003 - click for larger image The 6th photo shows a nestling or "guga". Eggs and gugas were a major source of food for islanders such as the St Kildans in the recent past.
Gannetry at Boreray, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin, St Kilda, Scotland, August 2003 - click for larger image The 7th and 8th photos show two of the Scottish gannetries. The first shows the sea-stacks of Stac Lee and Stac an Armin off the larger but uninhabited island of Boreray in St Kilda. The second shows a small stack near Muckle Flugga off the coast of Hermaness, Unst, Shetland.
Gannetry at Humla Stack, Hermaness, Unst, Shetland, Scotland, May 2004 - click for larger image
Gannet, Sula Sgeir, Western Isles, Scotland, May 2005 - click for larger image These next 4 photos show some gannets squabbling over nesting material which, it has to be admitted, is in pretty short supply near this gannetry at Sula Sgeir in the North Atlantic.
Gannet, Sula Sgeir, Western Isles, Scotland, May 2005 - click for larger image
Gannet, Sula Sgeir, Western Isles, Scotland, May 2005 - click for larger image
Gannet, Sula Sgeir, Western Isles, Scotland, May 2005 - click for larger image
Previous Page Back to Index Next Page

If you do not see a menu on the left, you may have arrived at this page from another site. Please click Home to get to my main page.
Fatbirder's Top 1000 Birding Websites