Fulmar (redirected from Fulmars)

fulmar (fŭl`mər): see shearwater; petrel.

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fulmar

Any of several species of gull-like oceanic birds in the family Procellariidae. The northern fulmar (Fulmaris glacialis) ranges from temperate to Arctic waters, and the southern fulmar (F. glacialoides) from temperate to Antarctic waters. The much larger giant fulmar, or giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), is 3 ft (90 cm) long and has a wingspan of more than 6.5 ft (200 cm). It nests around the Antarctic Circle. Fulmars eat almost anything; their natural foods are small fish, squid, and crustaceans, but they often take ships' garbage and will come ashore for carrion. They fly low over the waves of the open ocean, thus resembling their narrower-winged relatives, the shearwaters, in flight.

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fulmar

any heavily built short-tailed oceanic bird of the genus Fulmarus and related genera, of polar regions: family Procellariidae, order Procellariiformes (petrels)

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fulmar [′fu̇l·mər]

(vertebrate zoology)

Any of the oceanic birds composing the family Procellariidae; sometimes referred to as foul gulls because of the foul-smelling substance spat at intruders upon their nests.

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Fulmar 

(Fulmarus glacialis), a bird of the family Procellariidae of the order Procellariiformes. The body length is approximately 50 cm, the wingspan approximately 110 cm, and the weight approximately 760 g. Plumage color may be light—grayish to dove gray—or dark—smoky brown of varied intensity.

Fulmars inhabit the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and parts of the northern Arctic Ocean. They are oceanic birds, and they are found on land only during the reproductive period. They nest in colonies on rocky coasts. There is one egg per clutch, and both parents sit. Fulmars are active day and night. In the sea they feed on fish, fish roe, mollusks, crustaceans, and carrion. The birds fly excellently in any weather, and they can soar. They swim well, and they sleep and rest on the water. Fulmars move awkwardly on land, leaning on their metatarsal bones. They are objects of commerce—the eggs and meat are edible, the oily fat from the stomach is used for technical purposes, and the down is used.

REFERENCES

Kozlova, E. V. “Burevestnikovye ilitrubkonosye: Rod glupysh.” In Ptitsy SSSR, part 1. Moscow, 1951.
Sudilovskaia, A. M. “Otriad trubkonosye ili burevestnikovye: Rod glupysh.” In Ptitsy Sovetskogo Soiuza, vol. 2. Moscow, 1951.

A. M. SUDILOVSKAIA