fulmar

fulmar

fulmar (fŭlˈmər): see shearwater; petrel.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

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

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

fulmar

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

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005