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There are three oceanic bird species called gannet. They are found in the North Atlantic, where they are the largest seabirds, and in temperate seas around Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The adults are mainly white with black-tipped wing feathers and a large, yellowish or buff-colored head, with black around the eyes. They have a tapered beak and pointed tail. They dive with half-closed wings to catch fish and squid. They waddle on land, but are expert fliers, spending most of their lives over water. They nest in dense colonies on cliffs. The largest species is the 40-in (100-cm) northern gannet.
Examples of gannet in a Sentence
Corey Kilgannon, New York Times, 13 May 2025
Active soaring wings are long, narrow and pointed, a more efficient design for albatrosses, gulls and gannets that are more dependent on wind currents to sustain long periods of flight over great distances.
—Ernie Cowan, Mercury News, 27 Apr. 2025
From here, boat excursions depart for the Sept-Îles, an archipelago that’s an important sanctuary for migrating birds, including puffins and northern gannets.
—Mary Winston Nicklin, AFAR Media, 7 Apr. 2025
Environmentalists said that oil and chemicals posed a risk to sea life, including whales and dolphins and to birds, including puffins, gannets and guillemots that live on coastal cliffs.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 12 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Gannet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gannet. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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gannet
noun
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