Fulmar

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Fulmar, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Amber listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Vulnerable
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	No
Birds Directive Annex 1	No
Listed on the Annexes of	Bern(III)

The Fulmar is monitored by Seabird Censuses and by the Seabird Monitoring Programme, with sufficient colonies monitored to produce annual trends since 1985; The population increased by 77% between the 1969–70 and 1985–88 Censuses and remained relatively stable until the early 2000s. Numbers have since declined slightly but remain above the level in 1969–70 (JNCC 2022). The Atlas maps show very little change, with a small expansion in range between 1968–72 and 1988–91 being followed by a slight contraction to 2007–11.

Fulmars breed around almost the entire coastline of Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and in the southwest and northeast of England. They are absent from long stretches of the east and southeast coasts of England, reflecting the limited availability of suitable seacliffs for nesting. In winter, some of these gaps are filled, indicating that Fulmars disperse more widely outside the breeding season.

There have been small changes in breeding distribution.

Fulmars are present year-round, most often recorded in the breeding season until the abrupt departure of the majority of birds in September, whereafter scarce.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	41 years 11 months 17 days (set in 2019)
Typical Lifespan	44 years with breeding typically at 9 year
Adult Survival	0.972

Wing Length	Adults	331.7±13.5 | Range 312–350mm, N=351
	Males	339.5±10.5 | Range 320–357mm, N=72
	Females	330.1±7.9 | Range 319–342mm, N=37

Body Weight

Adults

772±126.2 | Range 595–970g, N=197

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	F
Field Codes	2-letter: F. | 5-letter code: FULMA | Euring: 220

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

The reasons behind changes in the Fulmar population are uncertain, but changes in the supply of food by man, e.g. discards from fishing vessels, have been suggested as a possible driver of the increases in the population until the late 1980s (JNCC 2022) and similarly the more recent slight decline may have been influenced by a reduction in the amount of discards (Bicknell et al. 2013). Data from two colonies (one in Scotland and one in Ireland) suggest that there may have been a decline in survival over the period 1974 to 2009 (Cordes et al. 2015); the reasons for this are unclear but this could be a potential consequence from reductions in prey populations and bycatch from fisheries .