Fulmar
Fulmarus glacialis
Wingspan 105-110cm

Superficially gull-like but easily told by stiff-winged, gliding flight pattern. Expert aeronaut, riding updraughts off cliff faces and ocean gales with consummate ease. Back and upperwings blue-grey but plumage otherwise mostly white except for dark smudge behind eye. Often seen closely when resting or nesting on cliff ledge; tube nostrils and bill plates then apparent. Formerly restricted to St Kilda but range has expanded in past 100 years. Now common on most cliffed coasts around Britain and Ireland. Sociable at breeding colonies, birds uttering cackling, grunting calls. Ejects foul-smelling crop contents in defence of nest.