When in close company of a 60,000+ colony fellow Gannets one can’t be coy about publicly showing affection. Gannet pairs may remain together over several seasons. They perform elaborate greeting rituals at the nest, stretching their bills and necks skywards and gently tapping bills together.

Northern Gannet breeds in only six well established colonies: three in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec, and three in the North Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland. In the eastern North Atlantic, it is distributed in 32 colonies from the coast of Brittany in France northward to Norway. Gannets winter and forage at sea.

The Northern Gannet is noted for its hunting ability. While most seabirds plunge-dives are relatively shallow, the Northern Gannet can dive as deep as 22 meters (72 feet). It thrusts its wings straight out over back, touching in the middle, just before breaking the water surface. It uses its wings and feet to swim deeper in pursuit of fish. If a fish is taken after diving, gannets swallow the fish underwater before surfacing.

This image was created using the artist’s digital models from the Songbird Remix series. More information can be found at songbirdremix.com