- Ichthyaetus relictus
Larus relictus
Identification
Length 44 to 45 cm, weight 420-660 g; wingspan not recorded.
Breeding adult reminiscent of second-summer Mediterranean Gull, with a black hood, pale silvery grey mantle and inner wings; outer primaries with white tips and black subterminal bands. Differs in the broader, more conspicuous white half-moon 'eyelids' (recalling Franklin's Gull), more rounded head, and shorter bill. Legs and bill dark red. Non-breeding adults lose almost all of the black hood, with only faint blackish ear coverts and hind crown, unlike Mediterranean Gull's more obvious black smudges; bill and legs often paler than in summer.
Juvenile and first winter similar to the same ages of Mediterranean Gull, but the latter's black bar on secondaries is reduced to a series of black spots in Relict Gull, head mainly white with faint black streaks, and bill also often paler; can recall the same ages of Common Gull as much as Mediterranean Gull.
Distribution
Breeds from Kazakhstan east to Mongolia, south-central Russia and northern China. Winters in eastern Asia, primarily near the East China Sea
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species which like its congeners was formerly placed in the genus Larus. It is closely related to Mediterranean Gull, and was first described as a subspecies of it despite the differences in structure as well as plumage.
Habitat
Islands in saltwater lakes and estuarine mud and sandflats in summer; coasts in winter.
Status
Classified as Vulnerable in the 2008 IUCN Red List.1
Behaviour
Similar to Mediterranean Gull.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BirdLife International (2008) Species factsheet: Larus relictus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 12/9/2008.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Relict Gull. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 22 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Relict_Gull
