Gannet Up Close
by Terri Mills
Title
Gannet Up Close
Artist
Terri Mills
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
This is a photo of a Gannet, taken at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Description from "Natural History Notebooks" ...
http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/gannet.htm
The Northern Gannet, with a 2 m (6.5 ft.) wingspan, is the largest seabird that breeds in Canadian waters.
Northern Gannets feed primarily on surface-dwelling fish, such as herring and mackerel. To catch them, a gannet will dive from heights up to about 43 m (141 ft.), plummeting into the water at great speed and with considerable force. The bird's skull is especially strong, and a system of air sacs also helps to absorb the shock of these plunges.
Northern Gannets nest on steep cliffs on islands off Canada's east coast and Europe's west coasts. The nests are large, between 30 and 60 cm (1 and 2 ft.) high. They are made from a mixture of vegetation, seaweed, feathers and earth, and may be cemented with guano (seabird excrement).
The North American gannets winter at sea, from Virginia to southern Florida, and return to their breeding grounds in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador in early April.
The reason these birds are at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary is because they burn their feet! Yep, they burn their feet!! These birds are not used to walking around on hot sand and pebbles and when they migrate to Florida they burn their little feet. So, the kind people at the sanctuary bring them in and tape dampened sponges to their feet and keep them in pens with sand, shade and swimming pools and every time they go in the water in the pools, the sponges get wet and help heal their feet. They don't even act like the sponges are on them! Once they are all healed, the kind people at the sanctuary take them out to be released. This is a non-profit organization that runs entirely on donations. So, whenever you're in the St. Petersburg, Florida area - stop by to see the birds (some permanent residents) at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.
Uploaded
January 30th, 2010
Statistics
Viewed 432 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/19/2024 at 2:13 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet