Difference between revisions of "Herring Gull" - BirdForum Opus

European Herring Gull
Photo by Robert Scanlon

Larus argentatus

Includes: Vega Gull and American Herring Gull

Identification

Vega Gull
Photo by Alex Kuzmich
Anadyr, Siberia, Russia

55-66cm. Breeding Adult

Grey back and upperwings
White head
White below
Black wing tips with white spots
Bare yellow eye ring
Yellow bill with red spot
Pink legs

Non Breeding Adult

Brown streaks on head and neck

Juvenile

Brown with dark streaks
Dark bill
Dark iris

Second-winter bird

Whiter head and underparts
Grey back

Distribution

American Herring Gull
Photo by jvhigbee

European Herring Gull

Breeds widely across Northern Europe from Iceland and the Faroes to northern Scandinavia and Arctic Russia, reaching south to the British Isles and France east to Germany, Poland, Belarus and the Baltic States. Has recently been recorded breeding in a Yellow-legged Gull colony in northern Spain.
Mainly resident or dispersive, except in north Norway, the Baltic, Finland and northern Russia where migratory.
Widespread in winter in Western and Central Europe.
Has bred on Svalbard and Bear Island.

Vega Gull

Breeds north-eastern Siberia; winters south to China

American Herring Gull

Breeds from Alaska east across northern Canada to Maritime Provinces, south to British Columbia, north-central Canada, and Great Lakes, and along Atlantic Coast to North Carolina. ¹

Taxonomy

Occasionally hybridises with other species, eg Lesser Black-back, and particularly Glaucous Gull in Iceland.

This species also formerly included Yellow-legged Gull, Caspian Gull and Armenian Gull which are now considered full species by most authorities.

Subspecies

Juvenile American Herring Gull
Photo by bobsofpa
Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida, USA, February 2005

Clements^[1] and Dickinson actually accept four subspecies in three groups:

European Herring Gull:
- L. a. argentatus in Scandinavia and extreme northwest Russia, winters in northern and western Europe
- L. a. argenteus in northwest Europe, winters to northern Spain
Vega Gull or East Siberian Gull
- L. a. vegae in northeast Siberia, winters south to China
American Herring Gull
- L. a. smithsonianus in northern North America, winters south to Central America

All three groups are accepted as full species by Gill and Donsker.

Habitat

Breeds mainly along rocky coastlines on cliffs, stacks and islands, in some areas on buildings or on flatter areas of shore and in others at inland lakes. Mainly coastal when not breeding but increasingly in urban areas and on farmland. Abundant at refuse-tips and around fishing harbours.

Behaviour

Diet

They are scavengers; they will also take eggs and young birds.

Breeding

They are colony nesters. 2-4 olive eggs are laid on the ground or cliff ledges and are incubated for 28-30 days.

Vocalisation

<flashmp3>Larus argentatus (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Brazil, M. (2009). Birds of East Asia. Princeton Univ. Press.
Christidis et al. 2014. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, version 4.1 (Downloadable checklist). Accessed 28 August 2018 from https://www.howardandmoore.org/
Gill, F & D Donsker (Eds). 2018. IOC World Bird List (v8.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.8.2. Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
Collinson, J.M., Parkin, D.T., Knox, A.G., Sangster, G. & Svensson, L. (2008) Species boundaries in the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gull complex. Brit. Birds 101(7): 340–363.
Burger, J., Gochfeld, M., Kirwan, G.M., Christie, D.A. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2018). European Herring Gull (Larus argentatus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53982 on 27 August 2018).
Howell, S.N.G. and Dunn, J. (2007) A Reference Guide to the Gulls of the Americas. Peterson Field Guides, New York.
Malling Olsen, K. & Larsson, H. (2003) Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America. Christopher Helm, London.
Nisbet, I. C. T., D. V. Weseloh, C. E. Hebert, M. L. Mallory, A. F. Poole, J. C. Ellis, P. Pyle, and M. A. Patten (2017). Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), version 3.0. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.hergul.03
Wikipedia contributors. (2018, July 21). Herring gull. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:05, August 28, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Herring_gull&oldid=851245816

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Herring Gull. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Herring_Gull

External Links

Search for photos of Herring Gull in the gallery

Use Larus argentatus to Search for videos of Herring Gull on BirdForum TV

Use Larus smithsonianus to Search for videos of Herring Gull on BirdForum TV

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 ''[[Media:Larus argentatus (song).mp3|Listen in an external program]]''
 ==References==
-#{{Ref-Clements6thAug15}}#Wikipedia
+#{{Ref-Clements6thAug18}}#Brazil, M. (2009). Birds of East Asia. Princeton Univ. Press.
-#[http://whatbird.wildbird.com/obj/478/_/target.aspx Whatbird]
+#Christidis et al. 2014. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, version 4.1 (Downloadable checklist). Accessed 28 August 2018 from https://www.howardandmoore.org/
-#[http://www.enature.com/parkguides/viewSpeciesLG_park.asp?showType=5&rgnID=2354&curGroupID=1&qry=rgn%3DPK_2354&curPageNum=119&recnum=BD0064 enature]
+#{{Ref-GillDonsker18V8.2}}#Collinson, J.M., Parkin, D.T., Knox, A.G., Sangster, G. & Svensson, L. (2008) Species boundaries in the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gull complex. ''Brit. Birds'' 101(7): 340–363.
+#Burger, J., Gochfeld, M., Kirwan, G.M., Christie, D.A. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2018). European Herring Gull (''Larus argentatus''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53982 on 27 August 2018).
+#Howell, S.N.G. and Dunn, J. (2007) A Reference Guide to the Gulls of the Americas. Peterson Field Guides, New York.
+#Malling Olsen, K. & Larsson, H. (2003) Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America. Christopher Helm, London.
+#Nisbet, I. C. T., D. V. Weseloh, C. E. Hebert, M. L. Mallory, A. F. Poole, J. C. Ellis, P. Pyle, and M. A. Patten (2017). Herring Gull (''Larus argentatus''), version 3.0. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.hergul.03
+#Wikipedia contributors. (2018, July 21). Herring gull. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:05, August 28, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Herring_gull&oldid=851245816
 {{ref}}