Australasian Gannet vs Northern Gannet
Morus serrator compared with Morus bassanus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Australasian Gannet | Northern Gannet |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Morus serrator | Morus bassanus |
| Order | Suliformes | Suliformes |
| Family | Sulidae | Sulidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | 93.0 cm (36.6 in) |
| Wingspan | 92.2 cm (36.3 in) | 180.0 cm (70.9 in) |
| Weight | 2512.5 g (88.63 oz) | 3000.0 g (105.82 oz) |
| Diet | -- | Shoaling fish, especially mackerel, herring, and capelin. Plunge-dives from heights of 30 meters at speeds … |
| Clutch Size | 1 | 1 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Northern Gannet
Open ocean and coastal waters. Breeds in dense colonies on steep rocky islands and sea stacks.
Song & Call Comparison
Australasian Gannet
Northern Gannet
Loud, harsh 'urrah-urrah' grunting and croaking at breeding colonies on sea stacks. Also gives a softer 'karrr' in flight. Large colonies are extremely noisy during the breeding season.
Geographic Range & Migration
Australasian Gannet
Northern Gannet
North Atlantic, breeding from Newfoundland and Gulf of St. Lawrence to Norway, Iceland, and Britain. Winters at sea south to the tropics.
Conservation Status
Australasian Gannet
Northern Gannet
How to Tell Them Apart
Australasian Gannet
Northern Gannet
Brilliant white body with black wingtips and a golden-yellow wash on the head and nape. Blue-grey bill with dark lines and pale blue eye-ring.
Long, straight, pointed, pale blue-grey bill with serrated edges
About These Birds
Australasian Gannet
84–91 cm, wingspan 165–185 cm. White with black wingtips; yellow wash on head; grey-blue bill. Breeds SE Australia and New Zealand coasts; ranges throughout Australasian seas. Feeds on fish by plunge-diving from height. Closely related to Northern Gannet; declining at some colonies.
Northern Gannet
The northern gannet is a spectacular plunge-diver, folding its two-meter wingspan into an arrow shape to hit the water at up to 100 km/h. Air sacs under the skin and a reinforced skull protect it from the impact. Bass Rock in Scotland hosts over 150,000 gannets, the largest single colony of any seabird in the world.