The Northern Fulmar,Fulmarus glacialis, breedingin NewfoundlandI DavidN. Nettleship:and R. D. Montgomerie3
The Northern Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, is a comm.),but nestingwas not established.The fact b•rd of the openocean, known to breedin North that the Witless Bay islands, and in particular America only in Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, Great Island, are amongthe mostclosely studied and Greenland. Godfrey (1%6) notes that it seabirdislands in easternCanada suggeststhat nests in large coloniesin the Canadian arctic this colony on Great Island is of recent origin, islands and is "found in summer in many other especiallyas Nettleship did not find breeding partsof the CanadianArctic westto BanksIsland fulmarsduring his seabirdstudies there between (rarely),north to EllesmereIsland, and commonly 1967 and 1969 (Nettleship,1972). It also seems southward to waters off Newfoundland, but not likely that this southwardexpansion into temper- Hudson Bay." Although one of the commonest ate North American waters is related to the in- b•rds at sea off Labrador from late April to early creaseof boreal nestingfulmars noted through- October (Austin, 1932; Todd, 1%3) and regular out the species'North Atlantic range (Fisher, off Newfoundlandthroughout the year (Peters 1952; Salomonsen,1965). and Burleigh,1951; Tuck, 1%7) it has not pre- Attempts shouldbe made to revisit the site viouslybeen found breeding in theseregions. systematicallyin the futureto providesome docu- BetweenJuly 23 and 29, 1973 during a census mentationof the colonizingprocess. of breeding seabirdsin Witless Bay, Newfound- LITERATURE CITED land, Montgomeriefound 6 fulmar nests,all of which containedyoung, on the northwestcorner Austin, O. L. 1932. The birds of Newfoundland Labra- of Great Island (47ø11'N, 52ø49'W), located off dor. Memoirs of the Nuttall OrnithologicalClub the southeast coast of the Avalon Peninsula. The Number7. Cambridge,Massachusetts. 229 pp. nestswere locatedtogether on a steeprock cliff Fisher, J. 1952. The Fulmar. New Naturalist Series onledges ranging from 9 to 34 metresabove the sea. Collins,London. 496 pp. At least one adult was observed at each nest, and Godfrey, W. E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National all were light-phase(Fisher's LL and L forms-- Museumof Canada BulletinNumber 203. 428 pp •ee Fisher,1952); all the downyyoung were light Nettleship,D. N. 1972.Breeding success of theCommon grey. Adults were also observedat four other Puffin (Fratercula arctica L.) on different habitats nearby ledge sites, but no evidenceof nesting at Great Island, Newfoundland.Ecological Mono- was found. graphs,42: 239-268. Hitherto the fulmar has been known in New- Nettleship,D. N. andA. R. Lock.1973. Observations of foundlandonly as a commonnon-breeding visi- Fulmars on ledgesin Labrador. Canadian Field- tant. Fulmars displayingbehavior usually asso- Naturalist, 87:314. ciatedwith breedingor prospecting(e.g. loafing Peters,H. S. and T. D. Burleigh.1951. The birds of on cliff ledges,etc.) have been noted previously Newfoundland.Department of Natural Resources, m Labrador(Nettleship and Lock, 1973) and New- Provinceof Newfoundland,St. John's. 431 pp. foundland(Baccalieu lsland--D. N. Nettleship; Salomonsen,F. 1965.The geographicalvariation of the Green Island and Funk Island--L. M. Tuck, pers. Fulmar (Fulrnarusglacialis) and the zonesof marine environment in the North Atlantic. Auk, 82:327- 355. •An investigationassociated with the program."Studies Todd, W. E. C. 1%3. Birds of the Labrador Peninsula on northern seabirds," Canadian Wildlife Service, En- and adjacentareas. Universityof Toronto Press, vironmentCanada (Report Number 23). Tornoto.819 pp. :CanadianWildlife Service,2721 Highway31, Ottawa, Tuck, L. M. 1%7. The birds of Newfoundland.In J. R. Canada. Smallwood (ed.). The book of Newfoundland, Vol- SBiologyDepartment, McGill University, Montreal, ume 3, Newfoundland Book Publishers, Lt., St Canada. John's,pp. 265-316.
16 AmericanBirds, February 1974