Northern Gannet Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesNorthern Gannet
Adult
Large heavy-bodied seabird with a daggerlike bill. Adults are mostly white with a yellowish wash on the head and neck and black flight feathers.
© John Reynolds / Macaulay LibraryOccitanie, December 03, 2016Juvenile
Large seabird. Juveniles are brown overall with white spotting.
© John Reynolds / Macaulay LibraryOccitanie, December 03, 2016Adult
Large white seabird with black wingtips. Though they spend most of their lives at sea, they often come close enough to shore to be seen when scanning with binoculars or a spotting scope.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryNewfoundland and Labrador, June 03, 1997Not all videos have sound
Adult
Bullet-shaped seabird with long pointed wings and long tail. In flight note white body and black flight feathers.
© Dorian Anderson / Macaulay LibraryNewfoundland and Labrador, July 02, 2013Juvenile
Juveniles in flight are brown overall with a white patch on the tail.
© John Reynolds / Macaulay LibraryOccitanie, December 03, 2016Immature
Immatures have patchy brown and white feathers. They attain adult plumage after 4–5 years. Note long pointed tail and wings.
© David Disher / Macaulay LibraryNorth Carolina, November 01, 2014Juvenile
Note wedge-shaped tail that is often held closed in a point. Juveniles have a dingy belly and a dark tail.
© Adrien Mauss / Macaulay LibraryHauts-de-France, September 07, 2015Adult
Nests in colonies on cliff ledges and steep slopes.
© Angus Pritchard / Macaulay LibraryScotland, June 26, 2016Immature and adult
Immature birds attain adult plumage after 4–5 years. Note daggerlike bill, narrow black mask, and pale yellow-washed head.
© Marie O'Neill / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, June 04, 2017Habitat
Breeds in dense colonies and spends the rest of its time at sea.
© Lynden Schofield / Macaulay LibraryScotland, August 08, 2014Similar SpeciesMasked Booby
Adult
Adult Masked Boobies have black along the trailing edge of the wings, while Northern Gannets only have black wingtips. Masked Boobies only regularly overlap with Northern Gannets in the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent waters.
© Tim Lenz / Macaulay LibraryTurks and Caicos Islands, November 27, 2013Similar SpeciesMasked Booby
Immature
Immature Masked Boobies usually have a dark head with a white collar. Young Northern Gannets are patchy brown but don't usually have a dark head (except as juveniles, when they are entirely dark).
© James (Jim) Holmes / Macaulay LibrarySaint Helena, April 18, 2016Similar SpeciesRed-footed Booby
Adult light morph
Adult Red-footed Boobies are smaller than Northern Gannets with bright red feet. They are tropical seabirds and have little range overlap with gannets.
© Marilyn Henry / Macaulay LibraryGalápagos, November 14, 2016Similar SpeciesRed-footed Booby
Adult light morph
Red-footed Boobies are smaller than Northern Gannets with more black in the wings and a bit of pink on the face that gannets do not have.
© Cameron Rutt / Macaulay LibraryHawaii, March 02, 2012Similar SpeciesRed-footed Booby
Adult dark morph
Dark-morph Red-footed Boobies are paler brown than juvenile Northern Gannets.
© Shawn Billerman / Macaulay LibraryGalápagos, May 21, 2014Similar SpeciesBrown Booby
Adult (Atlantic)
Brown Boobies are darker brown above than juvenile and immature Northern Gannets.
© Bill Adams / Macaulay LibraryArkansas, November 07, 2015Similar SpeciesBrown Booby
Immature
Immature Brown Boobies have an obvious line separating their dark brown breast from their dingy brown belly that juvenile and immature Northern Gannets do not show.
© Tim Lenz / Macaulay LibrarySonora, November 25, 2015Similar SpeciesBlue-footed Booby
Immature
Blue-footed Boobies are not likely to be found in the Atlantic where Northern Gannets occur. Separated from juvenile and immature gannets by smaller size.
© Ian Davies / Macaulay LibraryEl Callao, January 20, 2010Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Boobies and Gannets(Order: Suliformes, Family: Sulidae)
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