Aves › Sphenisciformes › Spheniscidae
Gentoo penguin
Up to 36 km/h swimming
Swims faster underwater than any other penguin species, up to 36 km/h.
Field Guide · Chapter 8 of 29
Waterbirds
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Aves › Sphenisciformes › Spheniscidae
Adelie penguin
Over 10 million mature
One of only four penguin species that nest on Antarctica itself.
Aves › Sphenisciformes › Spheniscidae
King penguin
Dives past 300 metres
Some king penguins have been recorded diving deeper than 300 metres.
Aves › Sphenisciformes › Spheniscidae
African penguin
It is the only penguin that breeds in Africa.
Aves › Suliformes › Phalacrocoracidae
Great cormorant
Up to 102 cm long
Adults have striking deep sea-green eyes.
Aves › Suliformes › Sulidae
Northern gannet
Wingspan 170 to 180 cm
It generally finds its food by diving at high speed into the sea.
Aves › Suliformes › Sulidae
Blue-footed booby
Dives from up to 100 m
Its nostrils are shut for good, so it breathes through the corners of its mouth.
Aves › Suliformes › Fregatidae
Magnificent frigatebird
Up to 2.44 m wingspan
One of the fastest birds in the world, it flies at up to 153 kilometres per hour.
Aves › Charadriiformes › Laridae
European herring gull
Up to 66 cm long
Young gulls peck a red spot on a parent's bill to show they are hungry.
Aves › Charadriiformes › Laridae
Arctic tern
70,900 km a year
Pole to pole and back. It lives through two summers a year and sees more daylight than any other animal.
Aves › Charadriiformes › Laridae
Black-legged kittiwake
Lives 307 months
Some kittiwakes now nest on top of street lights in Newcastle.
Aves › Gaviiformes › Gaviidae
Common loon
Up to 91 cm long
It can dive as deep as 60 metres to catch its prey underwater.
Aves › Podicipediformes › Podicipedidae
Great crested grebe
46 to 51 cm long
Young grebes swim and dive almost as soon as they hatch.
Aves › Pelecaniformes › Ardeidae
Great egret
Up to 170 cm wingspan
Stealing is how great egrets get a very high share of their food, from smaller herons.
Aves › Pelecaniformes › Ardeidae
Little egret
55 to 65 cm long
It was once common in Britain and Ireland, then over-hunting wiped it out.
Aves › Pelecaniformes › Ardeidae
Black-crowned night heron
Feeds all night
For a short while in courtship its legs turn bright salmon-pink.
Aves › Pelecaniformes › Threskiornithidae
Scarlet ibis
55 to 63 cm long
The only wading bird in the world with red coloration.
Aves › Pelecaniformes › Threskiornithidae
Roseate spoonbill
Pink from its diet
Its pink comes from the food it eats, through the same kind of pigment that colours a flamingo.
Aves › Pelecaniformes › Balaenicipitidae
Shoebill
Up to 152 cm tall
It stands so still for so long that it has been described as statue-like.
Aves › Gruiformes › Gruidae
Common crane
100 to 130 cm long
A common crane may try to court a new mate the year after its partner dies.
Aves › Gruiformes › Gruidae
Whooping crane
Stands 1.24 to 1.6 m
By 1941 only 21 wild whooping cranes were left alive.
Aves › Anseriformes › Anatidae
Wood duck
Nests up to a mile off
One of the few ducks that nests in trees, which is where it gets its name.
Aves › Anseriformes › Anatidae
Mandarin duck
41 to 49 cm long
The male has sail feathers on its back that stand up like boat sails.
Aves › Anseriformes › Anatidae
Greylag goose
74 to 91 centimetres
Most breeds of domestic goose descend from this wild bird, tamed at least as early as 1360 BCE.
Aves › Anseriformes › Anatidae
Black swan
Wings 1.6 to 2 m
About a third of their broods have a father who is not the mate.
Aves › Charadriiformes › Haematopodidae
Eurasian oystercatcher
80–85 cm wingspan
Ringed as a grown-up in 1982, one bird was found again 43 years later, at 46 or more.
1 of 26
On this page
- Gentoo penguin
- Adelie penguin
- King penguin
- African penguin
- Great cormorant
- Northern gannet
- Blue-footed booby
- Magnificent frigatebird
- European herring gull
- Arctic tern
- Black-legged kittiwake
- Common loon
- Great crested grebe
- Great egret
- Little egret
- Black-crowned night heron
- Scarlet ibis
- Roseate spoonbill
- Shoebill
- Common crane
- Whooping crane
- Wood duck
- Mandarin duck
- Greylag goose
- Black swan
- Eurasian oystercatcher
What is real here
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The words on these cards are written by AI from the sources named on each card. Software matched every number and claim to a sentence in those sources. Mistakes are still possible, so follow a card's links before relying on it.
Globe dots are real recorded sightings from GBIF. Where a card says native range only, they are clipped to that range. Otherwise they can include zoos, gardens and places the species was introduced.