Northern Gannet vs Masked Booby
Morus bassanus compared with Sula dactylatra
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Northern Gannet | Masked Booby |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Morus bassanus | Sula dactylatra |
| Order | Suliformes | Suliformes |
| Family | Sulidae | Sulidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 93.0 cm (36.6 in) | — |
| Wingspan | 180.0 cm (70.9 in) | 82.4 cm (32.4 in) |
| Weight | 3000.0 g (105.82 oz) | 1811.8 g (63.91 oz) |
| Diet | Shoaling fish, especially mackerel, herring, and capelin. Plunge-dives from heights of 30 meters at speeds … | -- |
| 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.
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.
Masked Booby
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.
Masked Booby
Conservation Status
Northern Gannet
Masked Booby
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
Masked Booby
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.
Masked Booby
74–92 cm. White with black wingtips and tail; yellow bill; white orbital skin. Breeds tropical Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian ocean islands; the largest booby. Feeds on fish and squid by high plunge-dives. Often displaces other boobies at nest sites; aggressive.