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Birds · 8 species guides

Seabirds: Albatrosses, Puffins, Gulls & Gannets

Seabirds are birds that feed at sea and come ashore mainly to breed, including albatrosses, petrels, gannets, puffins, gulls, terns, cormorants and penguins; they are the most threatened bird group on Earth, with around a third of species at risk.

Flight style
Albatrosses and shearwaters use dynamic soaring — stiff-winged arcs that barely need a wingbeat. Gulls flap and glide. Gannets and terns plunge-dive from height.
Nostrils
Tubenoses — albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters — have raised tubular nostrils on the bill, an adaptation for excreting salt and for an unusually sharp sense of smell.
Bill
Hooked in petrels and albatrosses; dagger-like in gannets and terns for plunge-diving; deep and laterally flattened in puffins, which is a breeding-season structure that is shed in winter.
"Seagull" is not a species
There is no bird called a seagull. Herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, black-headed gull and kittiwake are separate species, and several are red-listed and declining.

Seabirds live where almost nothing else does and pay for it in every direction. They drink saltwater and excrete the excess through specialised glands above the eye. They can spend years without touching land — a wandering albatross may not return for five. They are, on average, the longest-lived and slowest-breeding birds, many raising a single chick every year or two.

That life history is why they are the most threatened bird group on the planet. A population that produces one chick a year cannot absorb adults being drowned on longline hooks or killed by rats on a breeding island. Around a third of seabird species are threatened, a higher proportion than any other bird group, and the causes are well understood and largely solvable.

Key facts

  • Around a third of seabird species are threatened — a higher proportion than any other bird group.
  • Most seabirds are long-lived and very slow to breed, often raising a single chick per attempt, so adult mortality is disproportionately damaging.
  • Longline fishing bycatch is a leading cause of albatross deaths, and bird-scaring streamers, night setting and weighted lines cut it dramatically at low cost.
  • Invasive rats and cats on breeding islands are the other major killer; island eradications are among the highest-return interventions in conservation.
  • There is no such species as a "seagull". Several of the gull species people complain about are in serious decline and legally protected.
  • Tubenosed seabirds have an exceptional sense of smell and can detect dimethyl sulphide, a compound released where plankton is being grazed — which is also why they mistake weathered plastic for food.

How to recognise them

The features that separate this group in the field, in the order they are usually most useful.

Flight style
Albatrosses and shearwaters use dynamic soaring — stiff-winged arcs that barely need a wingbeat. Gulls flap and glide. Gannets and terns plunge-dive from height.
Nostrils
Tubenoses — albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters — have raised tubular nostrils on the bill, an adaptation for excreting salt and for an unusually sharp sense of smell.
Bill
Hooked in petrels and albatrosses; dagger-like in gannets and terns for plunge-diving; deep and laterally flattened in puffins, which is a breeding-season structure that is shed in winter.
"Seagull" is not a species
There is no bird called a seagull. Herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, black-headed gull and kittiwake are separate species, and several are red-listed and declining.
Where they are
True pelagic seabirds are rarely seen from shore outside breeding season. Birds routinely visible from a beach or harbour are mostly gulls, cormorants and terns.

8 seabirds guides

Search or filter by conservation status. Every guide carries sourced facts, IUCN status and FAQs.

Showing 1-8 of 8 animals

Animal group
A wandering albatross gliding low over the open ocean on long, narrow outstretched wings, with a pale body, dark wingtips and a large pinkish bill.
Varies; most albatross species are threatened

Birds

A

Albatross

Diomedeidae

The ocean's greatest gliders — and the world's most threatened bird family.

Southern Ocean · North Pacific

Open guide
An Atlantic puffin standing on a grassy clifftop, showing its black-and-white plumage, orange legs and large triangular bill striped in red, orange-yellow and slate grey, with several silver sand eels held crosswise in its beak.
Vulnerable

Birds

A

Atlantic Puffin

Fratercula arctica

The North Atlantic's beloved "sea parrot" — a burrow-nesting seabird whose famous bill fades each winter at sea.

Iceland · Norway and the Faroe Islands

Open guide
Male magnificent frigatebird in flight with long angled wings and an inflated scarlet throat pouch against a pale tropical sky
Least Concern

Birds

F

Frigatebird

Fregata magnificens Mathews, 1914 — family Fregatidae

A seabird that can stay airborne for weeks — and steals most of its meals on the wing.

Tropical Atlantic and Pacific coasts · Caribbean and Galápagos islands

Open guide
Northern gannet with white plumage, yellow head tint and black wing tips plunge-diving into blue sea water
Least Concern

Birds

G

Gannet

Morus bassanus (Linnaeus, 1758) — family Sulidae

White torpedo from the cliff — the loudest seabird colony in Britain.

North Atlantic coasts — breeds on cliffs in Britain, Ireland, Iceland and Canada · Winters at sea across the Atlantic

Open guide
Mixed flock of gulls with varied plumage standing on a rocky coastline beside the sea at low tide
Family overview

Birds

G

Gull

Laridae — family of gulls, terns and skimmers including Larus, Chroicocephalus and related genera

There is no species called seagull — and several gulls are in real trouble.

Coasts, estuaries, inland lakes and urban rooftops worldwide · British species include herring, lesser black-backed, black-headed, great black-backed and kittiwake

Open guide
A group of penguins standing on snow and rock at the edge of an icy Antarctic coastline, with several adults and chicks huddled together
Varies by species

Birds

P

Penguin

Spheniscidae

Flightless seabirds of the southern seas, now squeezed by warming oceans and vanishing ice.

Antarctica · Southern Hemisphere

Open guide
A herring gull standing on a coastal rock, showing a white head and underparts, pale grey back and wings, black-and-white wingtips, pink legs and a yellow bill with a red spot near the tip.
Varies by species; most Least Concern

Birds

S

Seagull (Gull)

Family Laridae

The clever, adaptable coastal birds we all call seagulls.

Europe · North America

Open guide
Common tern with red bill, black cap and forked tail diving toward shallow coastal water
Family overview

Birds

T

Tern

Sterninae — subfamily of Laridae including Sterna, Thalasseus and related genera

Slender gulls that dive — and one species flies pole to pole.

Coasts, estuaries, lakes and rivers worldwide · British breeders include common, Arctic, little, sandwich and roseate tern

Open guide

Conservation: what this group faces

Seabirds are the most threatened bird group on Earth, and unusually, the main fixes are known and inexpensive. Bird-scaring streamer lines, night setting and weighted longlines cut albatross bycatch dramatically. Eradicating rats and cats from breeding islands delivers immediate, measurable recovery — several island programmes have restored colonies within a decade. What is missing is not the method but the funding and the enforcement.

Fund bird protection Current appeals

Seabirds: frequently asked questions

What is a seabird?
A bird that feeds at sea and comes to land mainly to breed. The group includes albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters, gannets, puffins, gulls, terns, skuas, cormorants and penguins — lineages that adopted marine life separately.
Is a seagull a real bird?
Not as a species. "Seagull" is a catch-all for around 50 gull species. In Britain the birds usually meant are herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls, both of which are red-listed and declining, and both legally protected.
Why are seabirds so endangered?
Because their life history cannot absorb adult losses. Most are long-lived and raise one chick at a time, so deaths from longline bycatch, invasive predators on breeding islands, overfishing of prey and plastic ingestion compound faster than the population can replace them.
How long can an albatross stay at sea?
Years. Young wandering albatrosses may not touch land for around five years after fledging, and adults regularly forage thousands of kilometres from the nest on a single trip using dynamic soaring, which costs them very little energy.
Why do seabirds eat plastic?
Partly by sight, and partly by smell. Weathered plastic in seawater accumulates a biofilm that releases dimethyl sulphide, the same compound tubenosed seabirds use to locate feeding zones. The plastic smells like food, which is why petrels and albatrosses are so heavily affected.
How can albatross deaths from fishing be reduced?
Cheaply and effectively. Streamer lines that scare birds away from baited hooks, setting lines at night, and weighting lines so baits sink quickly have all been shown to cut albatross bycatch by very large margins where they are properly enforced.

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