Dutch bird watcher Edward Soldaat has created an amazing online gallery of seabird skulls. (Pictured here, a Razorbill from Ameland, The Netherlands.)
Petrels, albatrosses, cormorants, frigatebirds, gulls etc. are mysterious and inspiring birds: often the subject of poetic stories and lots of myths around the world. Albatrosses as the incarnated souls of drowned seamen following ships on motionless wings were a bad omen to many living sailors. The horrifying screams of petrels and shearwaters coming to their burrows after sunset have given rise to all kinds of superstitions.
The coastal species are often well known, but many stay out of sight and are seldom seen by most people. In many cases only known when found dead on the beach. And then there is often not much left of them because of their scavenging fellows. Luckily the skull or at least a part of it is often still present.
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