Northern Gannet vs Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
Morus bassanus compared with Paradisaea raggiana
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Northern Gannet | Raggiana Bird-of-paradise |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Morus bassanus | Paradisaea raggiana |
| Order | Suliformes | Passeriformes |
| Family | Sulidae | Paradisaeidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 93.0 cm (36.6 in) | 34.0 cm (13.4 in) |
| Wingspan | 180.0 cm (70.9 in) | 45.0 cm (17.7 in) |
| Weight | 3000.0 g (105.82 oz) | 260.0 g (9.17 oz) |
| Diet | Shoaling fish, especially mackerel, herring, and capelin. Plunge-dives from heights of 30 meters at speeds … | Fruit, seeds, arthropods, and small vertebrates. Males display at communal lek sites to attract females. |
| Clutch Size | 1 | 1-2 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Northern Gannet
Open ocean and coastal waters. Breeds in dense colonies on steep rocky islands and sea stacks.
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
Tropical rainforest and forest edge from lowlands to mid-montane elevations in New Guinea.
Song & Call Comparison
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.
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
Males emit harsh, buzzy 'kraaak' calls and explosive wailing during display. Females give softer 'waak' contact calls. Display calls are loud and chaotic at leks.
Geographic Range & Migration
Northern Gannet
North Atlantic, breeding from Newfoundland and Gulf of St. Lawrence to Norway, Iceland, and Britain. Winters at sea south to the tropics.
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
Southern and eastern New Guinea. Endemic to Papua New Guinea.
Conservation Status
Northern Gannet
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
How to Tell Them Apart
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
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
Males have a yellow crown, emerald-green throat, and spectacular cascading orange-red flank plumes. Females are brown with rufous underparts.
Stout, slightly curved, blue-grey bill
About These Birds
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.
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
The raggiana bird-of-paradise is the national bird of Papua New Guinea, featured on the national flag and coat of arms. Males gather at traditional display trees to perform elaborate courtship dances, hanging upside down and shaking their spectacular flank plumes. Alfred Russel Wallace first described the species in 1873.