View source for Gannet

{{short description|Genus of diving seabirds}}
{{other uses}}
{{For|the plant genus|Morus (disambiguation){{!}}Morus}}
{{Distinguish|Moros|Moros intrepidus}}
{{automatic taxobox
| name = Gannet
| fossil_range = [[Early Miocene]] to recent {{fossilrange|20|0}}
| image = Morus bassanus 9.jpg
| image_caption = [[Northern gannet]]s (''Morus bassanus'') on [[Heligoland]] 
|image2=Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) (W1CDR0001422 BD11).ogg 
|image2_caption=Northern gannet calls recorded on [[Grassholm Island]], [[Wales]]
| taxon = Morus (bird)
| authority = [[Louis Pierre Vieillot|Vieillot]], 1816
| type_species = ''[[Morus bassanus|Pelecanus bassanus]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = *''[[Morus bassanus]]''
*''[[Morus capensis]]''
*''[[Morus serrator]]''
| synonyms = ''Moris''
}}
'''Gannets''' are [[seabirds]] comprising the genus '''''Morus''''' in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Sulidae]], closely related to [[booby|boobies]]. They are known as 'solan' or 'solan goose' in Scotland. A common misconception is that the Scottish name is 'guga' but this is the Gaelic name referring to the chicks only.

Gannets are large white [[bird]]s with yellowish heads, black-tipped wings and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest [[seabirds]] in the North [[Atlantic]], having a wingspan of up to {{convert|2|m|ft|frac=2|abbr=off|spell=in}}. The other two species occur in the temperate seas around [[southern Africa]], southern Australia, and New Zealand.

== Etymology ==
"Gannet" is derived from [[Old English]] ''ganot'' meaning "strong or masculine", ultimately from the same [[Old Germanic]] root as "gander".<ref name=OED>{{Cite OED |gannet }}</ref>

=== Taxonomy ===
''Morus'' is derived from [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|el|μωρός}} ''moros'' "stupid"<ref name="GEL">{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=mwro/s |title=μωρός |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |work=A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |date= 1940 }}</ref> or "foolish" due to lack of fear shown by breeding gannets and boobies, allowing them to be easily killed.<ref name= job90>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n260 | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |page = 260}}</ref>

== Behaviour ==
=== Hunting ===
Gannets hunt [[fish]] by [[diving bird|diving]] into the sea from a height of {{convert|30|m|ft|round=5|abbr=on}} and pursuing their prey underwater, and have a number of adaptations:

* They have no external nostrils; they are located inside the mouth, instead.
* They have air sacs in the face and chest under the skin, which act like [[bubble-wrap|bubble wrap]], cushioning the impact with the water.
* The position of their eyes is far enough forward on the face for [[binocular vision]], allowing them to judge distances accurately.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wolfaardt |first=Leight |title=Adaptations for Diving and Hunting Fact Sheet |url=https://www.birdlife.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Cape-Gannet_Fact-Sheet-2.pdf |access-date=August 7, 2023 |website=Birdlife.org}}</ref>

Gannets can achieve speeds of 100 km/h (62.13 mph) as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish at a much greater depth than most airborne birds.<ref>{{cite web |title=Northern Gannet |url=https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/to-do/wildlife/northern-gannet#:~:text=Northern%20Gannets%20dive%20at%20the,with%20an%20especially%20strong%20sternum. |website=oceanwide-expeditions.com |publisher=Oceanwide Expeditions |access-date=15 September 2024}}</ref>

The gannet's supposed capacity for eating large quantities of fish has led to "gannet" becoming a description of somebody with a voracious appetite.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bellincampi |first1=Suzan |title=Groovy Gannets |url=https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2024/06/06/groovy-gannets#:~:text=Gannets%20are%20miraculous%20and%20beautiful,whole%20immediately%20after%20catching%20it. |access-date=15 September 2024 |work=[[Vineyard Gazette]] |publisher=VG Media Group |date=June 6, 2024}}</ref>

== Mating and nesting ==
Gannets are [[Bird colony| colonial]] breeders on islands and coasts, normally laying one chalky-blue egg. They lack [[brood patch]]es and use their webbed feet to warm the eggs.<ref>{{cite journal| title= Brood-patches and the physiology of incubation| author= Tucker, B.W.| journal= British Birds| volume= 37| issue= 2| pages= 22–28| url= https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V37/V37_N02/V37_N02_P022_028_A005.pdf| access-date= 2017-03-07| archive-date= 2020-07-31| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200731210446/https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V37/V37_N02/V37_N02_P022_028_A005.pdf| url-status= dead}}</ref> They reach maturity around 5 years of age. First-year birds are completely black, and subsequent subadult plumages show increasing amounts of white.

=== Northern gannets ===
The most important nesting ground for [[northern gannet]]s is the United Kingdom, with about two-thirds of the world's population. These live mainly in Scotland, including the [[Shetland Isles]]. The rest of the world's northern-gannet population nests in Canada, Ireland, the [[Faroe Islands]], and [[Iceland]], with small numbers in France (they are present in the [[Bay of Biscay]]), the [[Channel Islands]], Norway, and a single colony in Germany on [[Heligoland]]. The biggest northern-gannet colony is on Scotland's [[Bass Rock]] in the Firth of Forth; in 2014, this colony contained some 75,000 pairs.<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/scotland-s-gannet-population-soars-across-country-1-3720868
 | title = Scotland's gannet population soars across country
 | first = Alistair | last = Munro | date = 18 March 2015
 | publisher = [[The Scotsman]] | access-date = 21 July 2017
}}
</ref>
[[Sula Sgeir| Sulasgeir]] off the coast of the [[Isle of Lewis]], [[St. Kilda, Scotland |St Kilda]], [[Grassholm]] in [[Pembrokeshire]], [[Bempton Cliffs]] in the [[East Riding of Yorkshire]], [[Little Skellig |Sceilig Bheag]], Ireland, [[Cape St Mary's Ecological Reserve|Cape St Mary's]], Newfoundland, and [[Bonaventure Island]], [[Quebec]], are also important northern-gannet breeding sites.

==Systematics and evolution==
The three gannet [[species]] are now usually placed in the genus ''Morus'', [[Abbott's booby]] in ''[[Papasula]]'', and the remaining boobies in ''[[Sula (bird)|Sula]]''. However, some authorities believe that all nine sulid species should be considered congeneric, in ''Sula''. At one  time, the various gannet species were considered to be a single species.
{{Species table |genus=Morus |authority-name=[[Louis Pierre Vieillot|Vieillot]]|authority-year= 1816 |species-count=three|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Northern gannet]] (also known as "solan goose")|binomial=[[Morus bassanus]]
|image=File:Morus bassanus adu.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Lichtenstein, MHC|authority-year= 1823|authority-not-original=yes
|range= North Atlantic on coasts influenced by the [[Gulf Stream]]
|range-image=File:Basstölpel (Sula bassana) world.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status=LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Cape gannet|binomial=[[Morus capensis]]
|image=File:Cape Gannet - Morus capensis.JPG|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[Alphonse Milne-Edwards|Milne-Edwards]]|authority-year= 1882|authority-not-original=
|range= Southern Africa in three islands off [[Namibia]] and three islands off [[South Africa]]
|range-image=File:Morus Capensis distribution map.PNG
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status=  EN
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Australasian gannet|binomial=[[Morus serrator]]
|image=File:Gannet standing in Black Reef colony.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Gray, GR|authority-year= 1843|authority-not-original=yes
|range= Coasts of [[New Zealand]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], and [[Tasmania]]
|range-image=File:Morusserratorrgemap.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/end}}

[[File:Gannet up close.jpg|thumb|A [[northern gannet]] in [[Bonaventure Island]]'s colony]]
[[File:Gannet, Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire (geograph 4621592).jpg|thumb|Gannet, Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire]]
[[File:Gannet4.jpg|thumb|Gannet in the Celtic Sea – Ireland]]
Most fossil gannets are from the Late [[Miocene]] or [[Pliocene]],  when the diversity of [[seabird]]s in general was much higher than today. The cause the decline in species at the end of the Pleistocene is not clear; increased competition due to the spread of [[marine mammal]]s may have played a role.

The genus ''Morus'' is much better documented in the [[fossil record]] than ''Sula'', though the latter is more numerous today. The reasons are not clear; boobies possibly were better adapted or simply "lucky" to occur in the right places for dealing with the challenges of the Late Pliocene ecological change, or  many more fossil boobies could still await discovery. Notably, gannets are today restricted to temperate oceans, while boobies are also found in tropical waters, whereas several of the prehistoric gannet species had a more [[Equatorial climate|equatorial]] distribution than their congeners of today.

Fossil species of gannets are:

* ''Morus loxostylus'' (Early Miocene of EC USA) – includes ''M. atlanticus''<!-- Auk 43:462; Condor38:211 -->
* ''Morus olsoni'' (Middle Miocene of Romania)<!-- AnnNHMusWien104A:237 -->
* ''Morus lompocanus'' (Lompoc Late Miocene of Lompoc, USA)<ref name=condor>{{cite journal |author=Miller, Loye |date=September–October 1961 |title=Birds from the Miocene of Sharktooth Hill, California |journal=[[Condor (journal)|The Condor]] |volume=63 |issue=5 |pages=399–402 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v063n05/p0399-p0402.pdf |doi=10.2307/1365299 |jstor=1365299}}</ref>
* ''Morus magnus'' (Late Miocene of California)
* ''Morus peruvianus'' (Pisco Late Miocene of Peru)
* ''Morus vagabundus'' (Temblor Late Miocene of California)<ref name=condor/>
* ''Morus willetti'' (Late Miocene of California) – formerly in ''Sula''<ref name=condor/>
* ''Morus'' sp. (Temblor Late Miocene of Sharktooth Hill, US: Miller 1961) – possibly ''M. magnus''
* ''Morus'' sp. 1 (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, US)
* ''Morus'' sp. 2 (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, US)
* ''Morus peninsularis'' (Early Pliocene)
* ''Morus recentior'' (Middle Pliocene of California, US)
* ''[[Morus reyanus]]'' – [[Del Rey gannet]] (Late Pleistocene of W US)<ref name=condor/>

==Cultural references==
In many parts of the United Kingdom, the term "[[wikt:gannet|gannet]]" is used to refer to people who steadily eat vast quantities of food, especially at public functions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gannet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708061418/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gannet|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 8, 2012|title=Gannet: definition of gannet in Oxford dictionary (British & World English)|date=2014-07-06}}</ref>
[[File:Gannet_feeding_chick_in_main_colony.jpg|thumb|Nesting gannets (''[[Morus serrator]]'') at the [[Cape Kidnappers]] colony in New Zealand]]
[[File:CapeStMarysBirdRock23.jpg|thumb|Northern gannets at Cape St. Mary's]]

Young gannets were historically used as a food source, a tradition still practised in [[Ness, Outer Hebrides|Ness]], Scotland, where they are called "guga".  Like examples of [[Whaling in the Faroe Islands|continued traditional whale harvesting]], the modern-day hunting of gannet chicks results in great controversies as to whether it should continue to be given "exemption from the ordinary protection afforded to sea birds in UK and EU law". The Ness hunt is currently limited to 2,000 chicks per year and dates back at least to the Iron Age. The hunt is considered to be sustainable, since between 1902 and 2003 gannet numbers in Scotland increased dramatically from 30,000 to 180,000.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/scotland-blog/2014/jan/27/scotland-conservation-gugahunt| title=The Hebridean guga hunt is 'ancient and sustainable', not a crime| website=[[TheGuardian.com]]| date= 2014-07-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-25527432| title=BBC News – Gaga for guga: Ten things on Scottish island delicacy| work=BBC News| date=2014-07-06}}</ref>

In The Bookshop Sketch, originally from ''[[At Last the 1948 Show]]'' (1967), a customer ([[Marty Feldman]]) asks the bookshop proprietor ([[John Cleese]]) for "the expurgated version" of ''Olsen's Standard Book of British Birds'', "the one without the gannet", because he does not like gannets owing to their "long nasty beaks". Desperate to satisfy the customer, the proprietor tears the page about the gannet out of the book, only for the customer then to refuse to buy it because it is damaged.<ref>[http://www.montypython.net/scripts/bookshop.php "The Bookshop Sketch", ''MontyPython.net'']</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/eCM2nEBE0RY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120303213417/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCM2nEBE0RY&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCM2nEBE0RY|title=Monty Python – Bookshop Sketch (''Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album)''|last=HarvestGod|date=26 November 2009|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The sketch is reprised in ''[[Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album]]'', where the customer ([[Graham Chapman]]) says he does not like the gannet because "they wet their nests."<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6f01BQAAQBAJ&dq=contractual+obligation+album+gannet&pg=PA121| title=The Fascination of Birds: From the Albatross to the Yellowthroat| author=William Young| publisher=Dover Publications| year=2014| page=121| isbn=9780486782935}}</ref>

In Series 1, Episode 3, of ''[[The F Word (UK TV series)|The F Word]]'', Gordon Ramsay travels to the northwestern coast of Scotland and is shown how to prepare, cook and eat gannet.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/HH4b9IGcXWI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210424230934/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH4b9IGcXWI Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH4b9IGcXWI |title= Gordon Ramsay's The F Word Season 1 Episode 3|website= [[YouTube]]|date= 11 June 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 
<!--
Other references that could be expanded:
* The ‘gannet whale’ is a hypothetical descendant of the gannet seen in the television show ''[[The Future Is Wild]]''.
* The [[Cape gannet]] is featured in the 2008 film ''[[Wild Ocean (film)|Wild Ocean]]''.
* In [[Monty Python]]'s Bookshop sketch, a customer annoys the assistant by asking for, among other ridiculous texts, the expurgated version of ''[[List of fictional books from non-print media#Monty_Python|Olsen's Standard Book of British Birds]]'' with the gannet removed, stating that "they wet their nests".
* A gannet is the first bird viewed with real fear by Nat, the protagonist in [[Daphne du Maurier]]'s short story The Birds.
-->

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Morus (Aves)}}
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/gannets-boobies-sulidae Gannet videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

{{Suliformes}}
{{Suliformes Genera|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1651414}}

[[Category:Gannets| ]]
[[Category:Seabirds]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot]]