World Seabird Day: Interesting facts about seabirds

Be it the goofy pelican, Nigel or the annoying seagulls who keep saying 'mine', the seabirds did add some colour to Finding Nemo, one of the most adored animations of our generation. July 3 is World Seabird Day and it came to be so, as it was the last day the Great Auk was sighted before it went extinct. Seabirds are just like regular birds, except they are very much adapted to marine life. They feed on small fishes on the surface of the sea like krill, forage fish and squid.

They've had a great relationship with fishermen as they usually indicate arrival of shoals. Guano, a fertilizer from excreta of seabird, cave bats and seals are highly rich in nitrogen, phosphate and potassium. It is mainly used by organic farmers. Seabirds have also provided bait and at times food for fishermen who have been away from the shore for long. However, over the years, factors like hunting for seabird eggs, climate change and pollutants in the sea has caused a dramatic drop in their numbers. In an urge to help save these beautiful birds like the razorbills and the herring gulls, environment activists and nature photographers are posting pictures on Twitter.

Seabirds drink only sea water but never get sick because of desalination glands in their heads that filter the salt from the water.

Humans have trained Cormorant for fishing in Asia for over 1300 years. A snare is tied at the base of its neck so that only small fish are swallowed. When a bigger fish is caught, the bird returns to the raft where the fisherman dislodges it.

Seabirds have special droplets of red oil in the retinas which acts as natural sun protection.

Albatross can fly for hours without flapping its wings. They have the largest wingspan measuring 11 feet and 4 inches from end to end.

Penguins and the now extinct Auks have scale-like feathers and flipper like wings. These don't help them gain much flight, but allows them to pursue prey that live deeper.