Field Guide for all the Birds of North America
Seabirds
Oiseaux de mer
Anhingidae, Alcids, Diomedeidae, Fregatidae, Hydrobatidae, Laridae, Pelecanidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Procellariidae & Sulidae
Information, images and range maps on over 1,000 birds of North America, including sub-species, vagrants, introduced birds and possibilities
North American Bird Search Box
There are many types of seabirds and most species can be seen along the different coasts of North America. Other seabirds described as pelagic, are the ones who remain out in the open ocean. These birds may nest on the mainland or on islands out in the seas, where there is less chance of land predators eating their eggs or their young.
Included in seabirds are gulls, terns, kittiwakes, guillemots, jaegers, skuas, shearwaters, storm-petrels, petrels, puffins, gannet, boobies, razorbill, dovekie, murres, cormorants, auklets, murrelets, albatrosses, fulmar, pelicans, tropicbirds, frigatebirds, noddies and skimmer. All of these bird species can be seen at one time or another on the oceans and some of these bird species can be found in freshwater.
Most seabirds at one time or another can be seen flying along coastlines or overland, some by choice and others pushed off course by bad weather and strong winds. There are those, such as the albatrosses, that one might have a better opportunity of seeing from a boat or a ship.
The birds and the bird species identified above are a general summary of the seabirds of North America. There is hybridizing among the species, which creates sub-species, and these should be identified on an individual basis and there are others that may be vagrants from the surrounding continents.
References to Other Bird Sites:
Avibase - the world bird database This site provides the user with a complete list of bird species, broken down per country, or in the example of the US or Canada, per state and province. Here, bird species names are available in other languages, a great asset to be used as a translation of foreign bird names.
ABA - American Birding Association This site represents an organization that maintains official records of all birds species that have been proven to have been seen inside the perimeters of the North American Continent and the surrounding bodies of water. Regular revised versions are posted to keep the bird list current at all times. This is the list used by all serious birders over their lifetime. You may be aware of the movie called the "Big Year". It was with this list that all the competing birders used in an attempt to set a new record as to how many bird species that could be seen by an individual birder in one calendar year.
I hope you will take advantage of these suggested websites. I have used each of them, in one way or another, throughout the years in my quest to better identify and understand our fine feathered friends.