Northern Fulmar swimming

[Bill Dix]

Here's a light morph Northern Fulmar, to show the contrast with the darker version in my previous post. Also from Svalbard several weeks ago. This illustrates another interesting feature of these birds (which they share with other "tubenose" species): Since they are almost entirely pelagic, they must ingest salt water and then remove the salt content by means of a gland near the top of the bill. They have a groove running along the side of their bills which channels the salt down to the tip of the bill where it drips off, as shown here. I had always thought this was the function of the "tube nose", but I've been informed that the tube is simply a part of the nostril, contributing to an excellent sense of smell, and not the means of expelling the salt.

D500, Sigma 150-600C @ 600mm; ISO 500, 1/3200s @ f/7.1 manual; HH

[John Mack]

Like the ripples in the water. Neat fact about the salt water. Like the composition.

[Isaac Grant]

I really like the color palette of this shot bill. The silver of the bird works really well with the blue water. Ripples are a great touch.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful bird, love the gray/silver color. Techs look good. Interesting write up telling me something I never knew. Thank you for sharing, Bill.