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Gallery
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Records through the year
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Distribution
Northern Fulmar  Fulmarus glacialis
Common in the seas around the island group most of the year, especially numerous around the large colonies and near fishing boats. Visits its breeding sites as early as the later part of the polar night (January-February) and then as a rule in mild weather. Especially numerous breeding bird in the mountains around the fjord systems in inner Isfjorden. The population is probably almost a million pairs. 

Features: 45-50 cm, 0,5-1 kg. ♂=♀. Occurs in several colour phases. On Svalbard the semi-dark and the entirely dark phases dominate. On Bjørnøya pale birds occur more frequently than in other parts of Svalbard, though these are most often not so pale as those found further south in the Atlantic. In flight has characteristic rapid wing beats and sails on stiff wings. The young birds resemble the adults.

​Breeding: Breeds in colonies, often very inaccessible, on cliff ledges high up in steep mountain slopes. The egg is laid in a kicked-out hollow directly on the ground (sand/small stones) on cliff ledges and in various holes and crevices in the mountain that normally are inaccessible to the Arctic fox.