Birds Guide

Gulls
A Silver Gull, Lakes Entrance
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Charadriiformes   Suborder: Lari   Family: Laridae Vigors, 1825
Genera
Larus Rissa Pagophila Rhodostethia Xema Creagus

Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns (family Sternidae), auks and skimmers, and more distantly to the waders. Most gulls belong to the large genus Larus.

They are in general medium to large birds, typically grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet.

Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. The live food often includes crabs and small fish. Apart from the kittiwakes, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea. The large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two years is typical for small gulls.

Gulls — the larger species in particular — are resourceful and highly-intelligent birds, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly-developed social structure. Certain species (e.g. the Herring Gull) have exhibited tool use behaviour. Many species of gull have learned to co-exist successfully with man and have thrived in human habitats. Others rely on Kleptoparasitism to get their food.

Two terms are in common usage among gull enthusiasts for subgroupings of the gulls:

• Large white-headed gulls for the 16 Herring Gull-like species from Great Black-backed Gull to Lesser Black-backed Gull in the taxonomic list below
• White-winged gulls for the two Arctic-breeding species Iceland Gull and Glaucous Gull

Hybridisation between species of gull occurs quite frequently, although to varying degrees depending on the species involved (see Hybridisation in gulls). The taxonomy of the large white-headed gulls is particularly complicated.

In common usage, members of various gull species are often called sea gulls or seagulls. This name is used by laypeople to refer to a common local species or all gulls in general, and has no fixed taxonomic meaning.

Contents 1 Species list in taxonomic order 1.1 Family Laridae 2 Gallery 3 Reference 4 External links

Species list in taxonomic order

The American Ornithologists' Union combines Sternidae, Stercorariidae, and Rhynchopidae as subfamilies in the family Laridae.

Family Laridae

• Genus Larus

• Dolphin Gull, Larus scoresbii
  Pacific Gull, Larus pacificus
  Belcher's Gull, Larus belcheri
  Olrog's Gull, Larus atlanticus
  Black-tailed Gull, Larus crassirostris
  Grey Gull, Larus modestus
  Heermann's Gull, Larus heermanni
  White-eyed Gull, Larus leucophthalmus
  Sooty Gull, Larus hemprichii
  Common Gull or Mew Gull, Larus canus
  Audouin's Gull, Larus audouinii
  Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis
  California Gull, Larus californicus
  Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus
  Kelp Gull, Larus dominicanus
  Glaucous-winged Gull, Larus glaucescens
  Western Gull, Larus occidentalis
  Yellow-footed Gull, Larus livens
  Glaucous Gull, Larus hyperboreus
  Iceland Gull, Larus glaucoides
  Thayer's Gull, Larus thayeri
  Herring Gull, Larus argentatus
  Heuglin's Gull, Larus heuglini
  American Herring Gull, Larus smithsonianus
  Yellow-legged Gull, Larus michahellis

• Caspian Gull, Larus cachinnans
  East Siberian Herring Gull, Larus vegae
  Armenian Gull, Larus armenicus
  Slaty-backed Gull, Larus schistisagus
  Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus
  Great Black-headed Gull, Larus ichthyaetus
  Brown-headed Gull, Larus brunnicephalus
  Grey-headed Gull, Larus cirrocephalus
  Hartlaub's Gull, Larus hartlaubii
  Silver Gull, Larus novaehollandiae
  Red-billed Gull, Larus scopulinus
  Black-billed Gull, Larus bulleri
  Brown-hooded Gull, Larus maculipennis
  Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibundus
  Slender-billed Gull, Larus genei
  Bonaparte's Gull, Larus philadelphia
  Saunders' Gull, Larus saundersi
  Andean Gull, Larus serranus
  Mediterranean Gull, Larus melanocephalus
  Relict Gull, Larus relictus
  Lava Gull, Larus fuliginosus
  Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla
  Franklin's Gull, Larus pipixcan
  Little Gull, Larus minutus

• Genus Rissa

• Kittiwake or Black-legged Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla
  Red-legged Kittiwake, Rissa brevirostris

• Genus Pagophila

• Ivory Gull, Pagophila eburnea

• Genus Rhodostethia

• Ross's Gull, Rhodostethia rosea

• Genus Xema

• Sabine's Gull, Xema sabini

• Genus Creagrus

• Swallow-tailed Gull, Creagrus furcatus

Gallery

The Western Gull, found only along the Western North American coastline.	Seagull in Ocean Beach	Gull chick at Trondheim, Norway	Western Gull
Western Gull At the Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco	Herring Gull on the North Devon coast, England	Silver Gull at Sale, Australia	Silver Gull at Sale, Australia
Silver Gull at Rose Bay, Australia	Great Black-backed Gull, Stornoway, Hebrides	Gull in Ottawa, Canada	A gull taking bread from a human hand

Reference

• Olsen, Klaus Malling & Larsson, Hans (1995): Terns of Europe and North America. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-4056-1

External links

• Rudy's Gull-index: Pictures of several less well-known plumages of large gulls plus many links.
• The Norwegian Gull Page: Huge picture archive including all NW European species, as well as features from the Nearctic and SE Europe.
• Bird pictures - Gulls: Pictures and descriptions of large gulls from The Netherlands, France, Spain and Poland.
• Bird Hybrids Database: Search for specific laridae hybrids by entering gull species name in query box. Click on hybrid for references.
• Gull videos on the Internet Bird Collection