Editing Seabird (section)

{{Short description|Birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment}}
{{About|marine birds|other uses|Seabird (disambiguation)}}
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{{EngvarB|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}

[[File:Shark scare (535163908).jpg|thumb|350px|alt=black seabird flying against blue sky|right|The [[sooty tern]] is highly aerial and marine and spends months flying at sea, returning to land only for breeding.<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2020 |title=''Onychoprion fuscatus'' |volume=2020 |page=e.T22694740A168895142 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22694740A168895142.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>]]
[[File:Riviere au Tonnerre 033.jpg|thumb|350px|Raft of coastal seabirds<ref name="Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) rafting behaviour revealed by GPS tracking and behavioural observations.">{{cite journal |author1=Richards C |author2=Padget O, Guilford T |author3=Bates AE |title=Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) rafting behaviour revealed by GPS tracking and behavioural observations. |journal=PeerJ |publisher=National Library of Medicine |date=31 October 1921 |volume=7 |pages=e7863 |doi=10.7717/peerj.7863 |doi-access=free |pmid=31656697 |pmc=6812691 |quote=Before visiting or leaving their remote island colonies, seabirds in often engage in a behaviour termed ‘rafting’, where birds sit, often in groups, on the water close to the colony.}}</ref> [[Gulf of St. Lawrence]], [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]]]

'''Seabirds''' (also known as '''marine birds''') are [[bird]]s that are [[adaptation|adapted]] to life within the [[marine ecosystem|marine]] environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking [[convergent evolution]], as the same environmental problems and feeding [[ecological niche|niches]] have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the [[Cretaceous]] [[geological period|period]], while modern seabird families emerged in the [[Paleogene]].

Seabirds generally live longer, [[Reproduction|breed]] later and have fewer young than other birds, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most [[species]] nest in [[Bird colony|colonies]], varying in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual [[bird migration|migrations]], crossing the [[equator]] or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even on each other. Seabirds can be highly [[pelagic]], coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely.

Seabirds and humans have a long history together: They have provided food to [[hunting|hunters]], guided [[fishing|fishermen]] to fishing stocks, and led [[sailor]]s to land. Many species are currently [[threatened species|threatened]] by human activities such as [[oil spill]]s, nets, [[climate change]] and severe weather. [[conservation movement|Conservation]] efforts include the establishment of wildlife refuges and adjustments to fishing techniques.