gannet

The Cape gannet Morus capensis. It forms dense breeding colonies around the coasts of South Africa, incubating its single egg with its feet. Gannets are accomplished ‘plunge divers’ and make a spectacular sight when fishing.

A colony of Cape gannets gather along the coast of Namibia, southwest Africa.

Any of three species of North Atlantic seabirds; the largest is Sula bassana. When fully grown, it is white with buff colouring on the head and neck; the beak is long and thick and compressed at the point; the wings are black-tipped with a span of 1.7 m/5.6 ft. It breeds on cliffs in nests made of grass and seaweed, laying a single white egg. Gannets feed on fish that swim near the surface, such as herrings and pilchards. (Family Sulidae, order Pelecaniformaes.)

Diving swiftly and sometimes from a considerable height upon their prey, they enter the water with closed wings and neck outstretched. They belong to the same family as the booby.

The gannets are the largest seabirds of the North Atlantic; they are found also in the southeast Pacific and in temperate waters off Africa.