[Himalaya]

Here are some photos of G BB Gulls in action:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gu...cking_coot.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18232677@N00/369344540/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14939179@N00/914737676/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jggilbert/1895025407/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suerob/341040027/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lbricephoto/3076764250/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinyfishy/2490774652/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/omarrun/3102509461/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjohanna/2389134929/


some excellent photos of G B B Gulls preying on others, with birds of prey....

[Himalaya]

what is this?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgatton/2699864506/

[scuba0095]

good lord HIM u sure know how to find amazing pictures!!! TY TY

[Himalaya]

no problem! was a pleasure looking at them all.

i did nt know G B B Gulls could capture rabbits....how on earth could that be possible?

[scuba0095]

they smash their heads with their powerful beaks as soon as the y leave a borrow

[razorsharp]

Amazing photos. GBB Gulls really are amazingly adaptable, intelligent and fasfincating birds.

[Himalaya]

so G B B Gulls wait outside burrows of Rabbits?

how powerful exactly is a G B B Gull beak?

they have been observed killing birds upto shag and glossy ibis size and that must be difficult as they lack the talons raptors have but might be more powerful in strength?

[razorsharp]

Originally Posted by Himalaya

so G B B Gulls wait outside burrows of Rabbits?

how powerful exactly is a G B B Gull beak?

they have been observed killing birds upto shag and glossy ibis size and that must be difficult as they lack the talons raptors have but might be more powerful in strength?

There is no real way to answer that. There would be a lot of contributing factors to what the gull could kill, like other injuries to the prey, skin thickness of of prey, killing method etc. There know straight forward answer to that question Himalaya.

[scuba0095]

yes there is an easy answer

the gull has a very very strong bill and its a giant strong bird the king of gulls

it uses its beak like a hammer and smashes the rabbits head until it dies they do this to rats also

they stand up tall and come down REALLY fast just like a hammer and SMASH and repeat this till it dies

[Himalaya]

i dont dispute they are strong scuba but rabbits are fast animals and a gull cant pin down or bind a rabbit like a BOP can....and as razorsharp points out thickness of skin....is nt rabbit skin quite thick...

i know g b b gulls can drown prey but can they lift a rabbit?

whats the largest prey items a single herring gull or glaucous gull can overpower?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Himalaya

i dont dispute they are strong scuba but rabbits are fast animals and a gull cant pin down or bind a rabbit like a BOP can....and as razorsharp points out thickness of skin....is nt rabbit skin quite thick...

i know g b b gulls can drown prey but can they lift a rabbit?

whats the largest prey items a single herring gull or glaucous gull can overpower?

Glaucous Gulls can kill birds a little larger than a pigeon usually. Herring Gulls up to about the size of a pigeon.

Check out this Glaucous-Winged Gull:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXKwQzYLPHE

Saved by a person walking by

[scuba0095]

I wonder if a western gull would be even more predatory then a glaucous winged gull? They sure as hell are much more aggressive and powerfully built then herring gulls!

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by scuba0095

I wonder if a western gull would be even more predatory then a glaucous winged gull? They sure as hell are much more aggressive and powerfully built then herring gulls!

Western is perhaps slightly more predatory, particularly the northern occidentalis, wymani is often too small to always be taken seriously. But yes Western is very aggressive. I'm sure they'd be humbled by a GBBG though except when nesting.

One of my birding goals is to go see Great Black Backed Gulls one day.

[scuba0095]

I think the huge size and powerful build of the gbb gull makes it so aggressive

I have read that kelp gulls act just like a gbb gull but are half the size! Of course it depends on the sub species of kelp gull as there are many many sub species but in some areas the kelp gull fills in for the gbb gulls role and acts a lot like a gbb gull, i think this is the most southern sub species of the gull as some sub species of kelp gull are very tiny

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by scuba0095

i think the huge size and powerful build of the gbb gull

I have read that kelp gulls act just like a gbb gull but are half the size! Of course it depends on the sub species of kelp gull as there are many many sub species but in some areas the kelp gull fills in for the gbb gulls role and acts a lot like a gbb gull, i think this is the most southern sub species of the gull as some sub species of kelp gull are very tiny

Well the largest subspecies of Kelp Gull would be the Cape Gull if you don't consider them split. Kelp Gulls on average are slightly smaller than Herring Gulls with Cape Gull about the size of Herring Gulls.

We had Kelp Gulls at Seaworld at one time and I was told that they were collected originally from some sub antarctic islands. They were a littel smaller than the wymani Western Gulls. I got to get a direct size comparison when they moved the gulls to our former Humbolt Penguin enclosure which was on Mission Bay. The Western Gulls used to hang out just outside the fence trying to pick up any scraps left by the penguins, gulls or Giant Petrels.

[scuba0095]

hey correct me if i am wrong but the western gulls i saw seemed more heavy looking then hearing gulls with a more solid build but herring gulls were taller and probably had an overall longer length?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by scuba0095

hey correct me if i am wrong but the western gulls i saw seemed more heavy looking then hearing gulls with a more solid build but herring gulls were taller and probably had an overall longer length?

The Western Gull is clinal in it's differences with the northernmost wymani birds (likely the ones you saw) being almost the same size as the northern race in that area. Monterey happens to be the southernmost end of occidentalis' range. So yes overall WEGU is heavier looking than Herring Gulls and averages around the same size or so. In my area, San Diego, Herring Gulls are often larger than Western Gulls as they are smaller here on average with some being very much like a LBBG. Herring Gulls are intermediate in build between LBBG and WEGU.

Here is a typical southern Western Gull's build compared to Herring:
http://www.pbase.com/shonn/image/90662545

However, some Herring Gulls here are clearly bulkier than Western:
http://www.pbase.com/shonn/image/74510798
http://www.pbase.com/shonn/image/72919207

[scuba0095]

wow and even though the smaller size of the southern western gull it is still dominant over the more bulky herring gull found in its range!

Do you have any pictures of kelp and lbb gulls or kelp and herring? or kelp and western gulls in the same pic?

[Gentoo]

No pics of Kelp Gulls at all unfortunately. Wish I did but back when SW had Kelp Gulls, I wasn't into photography.

One thing about Herring Gulls is that the immatures, 1st and second winter especially, are more aggressive than adults and often dominate the Western Gulls at least down here. Adult Herring Gulls are less forceful in their behavior. However larger HEGU are often left alone by WEGU's here but the case is different in northern California.

[Cyclops]

cool pics there! We tend to forget that these are quite predatory birds! Modern dinosaurs indeed!

[Brian Bullough]

I notice the tinyfishy link in post #1, one GBB has yellow legs and one pink are there different races ,variations.

[Cristian Mihai]

GBB Gulls have pink(ish) legs. There are two options:
1. We don't see the real color of the legs in that pic (a photographic artifact).
2. The bird it isn't a GBB Gull.

[Himalaya]

Here wo go again....

What do you get when you get GBB Gulls and a Merganser?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peregri...ts/3260738126/


G B B Gull killing Pintail

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonymorris/3259019248/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonymorris/3259022034/

G B B gull and Swan?


http://www.flickr.com/photos/czaps/3232353100/


is there another under this gull? see the brown wing?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gudmann/3172160296/

[Himalaya]

G B B Gull harassing Osprey

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jggilbert/2669385300/

[Himalaya]

G B B Gull and Seal Pup


http://www.flickr.com/photos/deep-blue/2067338674/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deep-bl...7603300319473/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deep-bl...7603300319473/