Northern Gannets can be found on steep cliffs and small offshore islands, and there are approximately 87900 breeding Gannets on the entire Atlantic coast of North America. The adult Gannets can be spotted without much trouble with their dazzling white plumage and narrow grey spectacles, and the wingtips of this majestic bird are jet black. The plumage of the young gannets in autumn is brown, with many white flecks. With this passing of each season, they become progressively whiter, reaching the complete adult plumage in their fourth or fifth year of life. The short legs and large webbed feet of this bird make it a slow and clumsy creature while on land, but in flight it is fast and powerful, and has been described as "supremely graceful" (though it has an awkward landing and take off). The wings of an adult bird may span almost 2 metres and are narrow, tapered toward the ends, and swept back slightly, like those of a gull. The bill is strong and extends forward in flight, tapering smoothly into it's small head, which merges with a thick neck that in turn joins the body in a clean, smooth contour. The legs are tucked well up under the smoothly tapering tail. The gannet's shape appears to offer minimum resistance to air flow. With it's strong and powerful flight, a gannet can travel far in almost any weather. It can glide for hours, just above the wave-tips of the ocean, with seldomly moving it's wings. Taking advantage of the updrafts of air caused by the upward deflection of the wind off the windward slope of the wave, it skims the way tips, rises on the updraft of a wave, and glides in a shallow dive to the updraft of the following wave. Thus it makes headway against a stiff breeze without flapping its wings. Gliding flight across the wind or downward is also possible for this aerial mariner. This type of "wave-hopping" demands almost perfect control on the part of the flyer - a type of control that is impossible for even the best designed gliders. In Canada, it is illegal to harm or hunt these wonderful birds.

This is a map of the migratory path of the Northern Gannet to Cape St. Mary's