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seabird
Sign in to saveAlso known as marine bird, sea bird, seabirds
thumb|350px|alt=black seabird flying against blue sky|right|The sooty tern is highly aerial and marine and spends months flying at sea, returning to land only for breeding. thumb|350px|Raft of coastal seabirds Gulf of St. Lawrence, [[Quebec, Canada]]
Seabirds are birds that live on or around the ocean and depend on marine environments for their survival. They vary widely in their habits—some spend most of their time flying over the sea like the sooty tern, while others gather in groups near coastal areas—but all are specially adapted to thrive in saltwater ecosystems.
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~39 min read
Article
23 sectionsContents
- Classification
- Evolution and fossil record
- Characteristics
- Adaptations to life at sea
- Diet and feeding
- Surface feeding
- Pursuit diving
- Plunge diving
- Kleptoparasitism, scavenging and predation
- Life history
- Breeding and colonies
- Migration
- Away from the sea
- Relationship with humans
- Seabirds and fisheries
- Exploitation
- Other threats
- Conservation
- Role in culture
- Seabird families
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|350px|alt=black seabird flying against blue sky|right|The sooty tern is highly aerial and marine and spends months flying at sea, returning to land only for breeding. thumb|350px|Raft of coastal seabirds Gulf of St. Lawrence, [[Quebec, Canada]]
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, while modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene.