---
title: "Jan-van-gent"
description: "Morus bassanus — Vogels. The northern gannet (Morus bassanus) is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/northern-gannet
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Jan-van-gent

> Morus bassanus — Vogels. The northern gannet (Morus bassanus) is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae.

- Scientific name: *Morus bassanus*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `sea` (Zee en kust)
- iNaturalist observations: 24997
- Wikidata: [Q26675](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26675)
- iNaturalist taxon: [3802](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/3802)

## Names

- en: Northern Gannet
- de: Basstölpel
- es: Bobo norteño
- fr: Fou de bassan
- nl: Jan-van-gent
- pt: Ganso-patola
- pl: Głuptak

## Countries with the most observations

US (4628), GB (4589), CA (3649), FR (1456), ES (1160), PT (1089), DE (1057), IE (707), DK (335), NO (326), IS (318), DZ (196)

## Summary

The northern gannet (Morus bassanus) is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the North Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in the northern Atlantic. The sexes are similar in appearance. The adult northern gannet has a mainly white streamlined body with a long neck, and long and slender wings. It is 87–100 cm (34+1⁄2–39+1⁄2 in) long with a 170–180 cm (67–71 in) wingspan. The head and nape have a buff tinge that is more prominent in breeding season, and the wings are edged with dark brown-black feathers…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_gannet

## Photo

![Jan-van-gent](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/northern-gannet/medium.jpg)

Photo: Melanie Gaddy · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/71801841

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/northern-gannet?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).