Gull, Tern And Auk Families

This group gathers taxon/Bird Families subcategory members that are themselves bird families belonging to the order Charadriiformes' seabird lineages, gulls, terns, skuas and auks, coastal and open-ocean birds adapted to a life spent largely over or on the water. Gulls are generalist, often highly adaptable scavengers and predators found from remote coastlines to inland cities, terns are typically slimmer, more streamlined plunge-divers that catch fish by dropping from the air, and auks, including the puffins, murres and guillemots, are compact, short-winged diving specialists that use their wings to swim underwater in pursuit of fish, a hunting style that trades efficient flight for underwater agility. Every family gathered here nests, often colonially, on cliffs, islands or open ground near water, a strategy that limits access for most land-based predators.