Fulmar

Fulmars live in the North Sea region throughout the year. However you are only likely to see them at sea or in their breeding area off the northern coast of England, Scotland or Helgoland. If you see them in the Netherlands, it is most likely winter and they probably ran into a storm. Fulmars have a strong beak with a sharp arched point, which allows them to tear off pieces of their prey. They eat just about anything found in the upper sea surface, including plastic. This is another reason you may find a beached fulmar on a Dutch beach.

Features

size:	43-52 centimeters; 101-117 centimeters wingspan
color (adults):	grey and white with a yellow bill
food:	small fish (lesser sandeel, sprat), scraps from fishing vessels, cuttlefish, jellyfish fleas, shrimp
threats:	mankind, via marine litter
Dutch status:	only found when injured or dead
habitat	nests on rocky cliffs
reproduction:	1 egg; maturity: 9 years
life span:	44 years
special nature:	spits a stinking oil at attackers
winter home:	North Sea
protected by:	National legislation: Flora and Fauna Regulation International: Bern Convention

You don't want to get into a fight with a fulmar. When sensing danger, it will spit a smelly, sticky stomach oil at its attacker. This oil is just as disastrous for the plumage as fuel oil. Therefore, bullies such as great skuas leave the fulmar alone and steal food from other seabirds.

The bird picks its food out of the water while floating on the surface. It even pecks out the 'fleas' living off of jellyfish. But the fulmar is also a good diver. Not only have these birds been seen as deep as 10 meters, scientist have found remnants of squid in stomaches of dead fulmars, which proves that they are also successful hunters under water.

Clowns on land, gliders at sea

The flying power of the fulmar is very strongly developed at the cost of moving around on land where they are clumsy wagglers. However once they take to the air, they are fantastic gliders capable of soaring just above the water surface with stretched wings without flapping even once for a long time.

Indicator for marine litter studies

By examing the stomach contents of dead fulmars, this bird species is used by scientists at IMARES on Texel to determine how much marine litter is in the North Sea. Of the 294 fulmars that were examined in 2002 and 2003, an average of 32 pieces of plastic was found in 98% of the animals. Birds in the Dutch part of the North Sea contained the most plastic (50 pieces), while birds from Scotland had half as much.

Spotted in the North Sea

In late summer, around 100,000 fulmars can be found on the Dutch section of the Continental Plate (NCP). Rough estimations indicate that this represents almost 3% of the North-Atlantic population.

Distribution of the fulmar in the North Sea region

Names:
Dut: Noordse Stormvogel (mallemok, vuilaard (B))
Eng: Fulmar
Fren: Pétrel Fulmar
Ger: Eissturmvogel
Ital: Fulmaro
Lat: Fulmarus glacialis
Dan: Mallemuk
Nor: Havhest
Frisian: Mallemok

Source: de Vleet, Ecomare