Fulmarus glacialis
A gull-like seabird that spits foul-smelling oil at intruders.
Size: 45-50 cm | Habitat: Sea, Marsh, Estuary & Shoreline Birds | Season: All year
Superficially gull-like, the fulmar is actually related to albatrosses, with a stiff-winged, shearing flight low over the waves. It nests on narrow cliff ledges around the UK coast, most abundantly in Scotland.
Grey and white, gull-like plumage · thick neck and stubby bill with tube-shaped nostrils · stiff, straight-winged flight with shallow beats and long glides
Fulmars glide low over the sea on stiff wings, rarely flapping, and return to the same cliff ledge year after year. Nesting birds defend themselves by spitting a foul-smelling stomach oil at intruders, including people.
Fulmars only started breeding in mainland Britain in the 1870s — before then they nested at just one or two remote Scottish island sites, but have since spread right around the UK coast.
The Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) looks superficially like a gull but is actually a close relative of albatrosses, with a stiff-winged, shearing flight low over the waves and a thick neck with distinctive tube-shaped nostrils.
Fulmars were once restricted to just one or two remote Scottish island colonies, but expanded dramatically around the entire UK coastline from the 1870s onward. Nesting on narrow cliff ledges, they defend themselves with an unusual trick: spitting a foul-smelling stomach oil at anything that threatens the nest, including people.
Despite this long-term range expansion, recent declines in breeding numbers have moved the fulmar onto the Amber list — a reminder that a species' historical success story doesn't guarantee it stays off the conservation-concern list forever.
🟠 Conservation status: Amber (UK Birds of Conservation Concern 5)
Amber-listed under BoCC5 due to recent declining breeding population trends, despite a long-term expansion in range over the past 150 years.