Page 203 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

SKUAS, GULLS,AND TERNS/AUKS
Families Stercorariidae, Laridae, Sternidae
SKUAS, GULLS, AND TERNS

OST OF THESE WATER birds live at sea but but many remain on the coast.They forage in
M others are freshwater species for part or flocks,and the larger species are fiercely predatory.
all of the year.They swim well and fly expertly: Sexes are alike but immature plumages are quite
terns hover and dive, while larger gulls are able different from the adults: the larger species take
to soar in upcurrents or a good breeze.Gulls walk four years to gain adult colours.
easily but skuas, and especially the short-legged
terns, are not nearly so agile on the ground. All TERNS
defend their nests boldly, some terns and all the Mostly smaller than gulls, and longer-tailed,
skuas quite likely to strike human intruders on terns are long-distance migrants. Some have
the head if they approach too closely. black caps in summer and these dive from the
air for fish; the “marsh terns” are
SKUAS darker in summer and dip to
Piratical seabirds, skuas kill their own prey but pick up food from the
get most of their food by chasing other seabirds surface as they fly.
and forcing them to drop or disgorge it. Some
species have several plumage forms and their
immatures are rather different from adults.

GULLS
While the Kittiwake is a maritime gull,
others breed inland or move inland
in winter to some extent,
FISHER
A Common Tern looks into the water
for fish: it will dive headlong to grasp
one in its bill.

MASSIVE GULL
The Great Black-backed Gull is the
world’s biggest gull. Capable of
killing rabbits and birds, it feeds
mostly on dead fish and scraps.

Family Alcidae
AUKS PENGUIN-LIKE
Auks look like northern equivalents of
XCLUSIVELY SEABIRDS,AUKS come to land only to breed on cliff the southern hemisphere penguins.
E ledges or in burrows, in noisy colonies, and spend the winter at
sea.They swim and dive expertly, using their wings underwater, but
in flight their small wings whirr rapidly to keep
them airborne.They are vulnerable to
pollution, often forming the bulk of the
victims of oil spills around Atlantic coasts.
Some Puffin colonies have disappeared
as tunnelling birds have eroded all the
available soil; others have suffered from
declining fish stocks.

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