Fulmar or Maalie

The Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) is a member of the Petrel and Shearwater family (Procellariidae) and is related to the Albatrosses. In Foula it is known as the Maalie, a shortening of the Dutch name Mollymawk. At first glance a Maalie could be mistaken for a gull but it is a much stockier bird, especially noticeable is its much thicker, shorter neck. Its flight is very distinctive, gliding and banking with stiff wings, often low over the sea, exploiting air currents around the waves. The head and underparts are white, the back, wings and tail grey. The northern phase, or “Blue Fulmar”, is a smoky grey with darker wing-tips, but it is not often seen in Foula.

Maalie gliding over the sea

The Fulmar’s only breeding places in the North-east Atlantic used to be at St Kilda in the Hebrides and Grimsey in Iceland. Around the middle of the eighteenth century the Icelandic population began to expand and spread around the island’s coast. Early in the nineteenth century they started to colonise Faroe and the first to breed in Foula were recorded in 1878. This was the first colony in Britain outside of St Kilda, and except for St Kilda, is still Britain’s largest colony with an estimated 46,000 pairs. During the twentieth century fulmars colonized almost every part of the British and Irish coastlines.

Maalie incubating its egg

The Foula tradition is that Maalies first came to the Isle because of a whale carcass. In a 1918 article in the Scotsman, the Foula teacher, W. H. Greenaway writes: “Over fifty years ago the carcass of a Greenland whale was seen flowing with the tide close to the island, and it was accompanied by a large number of fulmars, which ultimately left the whale and settled here as colonisers.”

Maalie using its tail and feet as rudders in turbulent cliff face winds

Maalie adults or chicks were never used for food in Foula, but a few eggs were taken. Especially after they started nesting inland where sheep grazed. The Maalie has a fool-proof defensive weapon – it spits foul smelling oil at any bird or animal that comes near its nest. Even the youngest chicks can do this. Sheep’s wool coated with Maalie oil is of no use to anyone. Wool from the Shetland sheep used to be a large part of the island’s income. However, nowadays, wool is nearly worthless and any loss due to Maalie oil is of no consequence. The photograph below shows how the grass has been killed where a Maalie has been spitting oil in defence of its egg.

Maalie nesting under a dyke

Maalie sitting on a dyke above its mate in the nest below

Although only a small proportion of the total breeding population, quite a number of Maalies nest inland, under boulders, low peat brows, old walls, on top or inside ruined buildings, even in old boats as in the photograph below.

Maalie nesting in an old Boat

Maalies are very catholic in their choice of food. Their diet ranges from zooplankton through sandeels, small fish, squid, crustaceans, to discarded fish offal, especially livers, and on to seal or whale blubber. They are fearless of other seabirds and can dominate food sources.

Maalies waiting for fish offal

Maalies only lay the one egg, if it is lost for any reason it is not replaced. One of the secrets of their success is their long life span. They have been known to live for as long as fifty years. They have no enemies, other birds keep out of their way as much as possible. Juvenile Ravens have been known to steal their eggs, but that is a form of suicide. A succession of coats of Maalie oil soon destroys their feathers. They can no longer fly and die of starvation.

Maalie with its chick

Maalies are very site faithful. A large proportion of their lives is spent at or near their nest sites. They love to glide round and round the cliff face where their nest is. Often they reach the top of their glide at the nest, hover a moment, then swoop out to sea a few yards and go round again. Supremely able gliders who eye you up as they glide past.

Maalie numbers reach a peak in fine weather in March. The air is full of gliding, wheeling birds. Big parties, with a lot of bathing activity, gather on the water below the cliffs. On a quiet day the noise of cackling Maalies is everywhere.

Maalies having a quiet cackle

Maalies having a much louder cackle

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