Northern Gannet vs Blue-footed Booby
Morus bassanus compared with Sula nebouxii
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Northern Gannet | Blue-footed Booby |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Morus bassanus | Sula nebouxii |
| 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) | 82.1 cm (32.3 in) |
| Weight | 3000.0 g (105.82 oz) | 1590.0 g (56.09 oz) |
| Diet | Shoaling fish, especially mackerel, herring, and capelin. Plunge-dives from heights of 30 meters at speeds … | -- |
| Clutch Size | 1 | 1-3 |
| 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.
Blue-footed 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.
Blue-footed Booby
Conservation Status
Northern Gannet
Blue-footed 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
Blue-footed 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.
Blue-footed Booby
76–84 cm. Brown-and-white; vivid turquoise-blue feet diagnostic. Breeds Galapagos, Pacific coast of South and Central America. Uses elaborate sky-pointing displays with blue feet. Feeds on anchovies by plunge-diving; highly susceptible to El Niño food shortages.