We have three families of birds represented in this order. The albatrosses have 14 species worldwide and three can be found off the pacific coast though only two, the Laysan and the Black-footed Albatrosses, are found with any regularity. The shearwater family includes 70 species of which 17 can be found along the Pacific and Atlantic coast. The storm petrels have 20 species throughout the world with 8 found in the United States. All three of these families are only found along the ocean and away from the coast thus making them difficult to find. There are special areas like the Monterey coast of California where deep waters along the coast bring these pelagic birds close to shore.

There are six families that make up this order and all the members of the six families have at least one thing in common: they have webbing between their four toes. There are actually seven species of pelicans in the world with two of them being found in the United States. The cormorant family has 39 species with 6 of those represented in the US.

Genus: Anhinga

Anhinga

Anhinga 2

Anhinga 3

Genus: Phalacrocorax