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Cal Williams > Gannet Head Closeup An attractive bird, the adult Northern Gannet is gleaming white with black wing tips, with an orange-buff tinged head. The bill is light blue, and the eye is blue/grey, surrounded by a bright blue lid and bare, black skin. The immature birds are dark brown in their first year, gradually acquiring more white in subsequent seasons until maturity at five years
Cal Williams > Gannet Fight! Gannets are allocated by instinct an 80-centimeter circle in the colony. Any encroachment into this space can set off noisy fights such as this tug-of-war. Most fights are between juveniles who, unable as yet to produce an egg, never-the-less practice nesting, generally in less desireable sites around the edges of the colony. By the time they produce an egg and hatch a chick in their fifth year, they have learned enough and have settled down sufficiently that the chick’s life is seldom endangered by such squabbles.
Cal Williams > Gannet Colony The Northern Gannet colony at Parc national de I'Ile-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Perce at the end of the Gaspe peninsula in Quebec, Canada is the largest in North America. About 50,000 birds nest on the 300-foot high cliffs on the East side of the island and about 70,000 more on the plateau at the top of the cliffs. The colony is a spectacular sight - and sound - and smell! The island is reached by boat from the town of Perce - the trip includes closeup views of Perce Rock and of the cliffs before docking on the West side of the island. The experience of stepping out of the woods at the end of the trail across the island, right at the edge of the gannet colony, is truly unforgetable.
Cal Williams > Rocher Percé Panorama Ile Bonaventure and Pierced Rock National Park and Percé Town, Gaspesie, Quebec, Canada
Cal Williams > Fireweed, Chamerion augustifoliumIle Bonaventure and Pierced Rock National Park (Canada), Percé, Gaspésie, Quebec, Canada. A member of the Evening Primrose family. Likes burned-over or "disturbed" soils. Taken beside the trail to the Gannett colony on I'lle-Bonaventure.
Cal Williams > Gannet Landing Returning gannets land at a pretty high speed, honking desperately (Incoming, Incoming!) and somehow locate their mate and drop directly into that 80-centimeter circle he/she has reserved. This sets off yet another round of honking in the neighborhood.
Cal Williams > Young Gannet Pair Gannets generally mate for life before they return in their third year to the colony in which they hatched. Unable to produce an egg until their fifth year, like all teenagers they never-the-less practice, practice, practice! This pair of four-year-olds is being typically cute with their affections.
Cal Williams > Gannet in Flight The Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) is a goose-sized member of the Booby family. It is a long-winged bird, with a five to six foot wingspan, and is about 35 to 40 inches in length. It plunges spectacularly into the sea, from heights of 60 to 90 feet, in pursuit of fish. It often uses its large feet to propel itself back out of the water and into flight, with its catch.
Cal Williams > Gannets With Chick Adult pairs produce a single egg each nesting season, beginning in their fifth year. They have to feed their chick for three months - longer than any other bird. The parent regurgitates partially digested fish directly down the chicks gullet like a fire hose – after which the chick goes back to sleep on a parent’s feet until it is once again hungry. This chick is quite well developed - in other photos here you will see sleeping chicks that look like nothing more than a flattened mound of feathers!
Gannet Head Closeup

An attractive bird, the adult Northern Gannet is gleaming white with black wing tips, with an orange-buff tinged head. The bill is light blue, and the eye is blue/grey, surrounded by a bright blue lid and bare, black skin. The immature birds are dark brown in their first year, gradually acquiring more white in subsequent seasons until maturity at five years
Cal Williams > Gannet Head Closeup An attractive bird, the adult Northern Gannet is gleaming white with black wing tips, with an orange-buff tinged head. The bill is light blue, and the eye is blue/grey, surrounded by a bright blue lid and bare, black skin. The immature birds are dark brown in their first year, gradually acquiring more white in subsequent seasons until maturity at five years
Gannet Head Closeup

An attractive bird, the adult Northern Gannet is gleaming white with black wing tips, with an orange-buff tinged head. The bill is light blue, and the eye is blue/grey, surrounded by a bright blue lid and bare, black skin. The immature birds are dark brown in their first year, gradually acquiring more white in subsequent seasons until maturity at five years
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All photographs in these galleries are © Cal Williams. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.