Seabird Life Styles

‘Seabird’ is a rather loose term traditionally used to cover those birds which obtain at least part of their food from the sea, not simply by wading into it as do shorebirds, but by travelling some distance over its surface; in addition, they typically breed on offshore islands or coastal areas. The main seabird groups fall into four taxonomic orders, involving some 274 species, summarized in Table 2.1. Certain other birds, such as seaducks, divers, grebes and phalaropes are also sometimes classed as seabirds.