Gull

Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They
are most closely related to the terns (family Sternidae) and only distantly related to auks,
skimmers and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed
in the genus Larus, but that arrangement is now considered polyphyletic, leading to the
resurrection of several genera.[1] An older name for gulls is mews, which is cognate with
German Möwe, Danish måge, Swedish mås, Dutch meeuw, and French mouette, and can
still be found in certain regional dialects.[2][3][4]
 Gull
Temporal range: Early Oligocene-Present

Adult ring-billed gull

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Charadriiformes

Suborder: Lari

Family: Laridae

Genera

11, see text

 Flying subadult silver gulls at Kiama
beach, Sydney during Christmas
2013

A gull in flight

Gulls are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on
the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls; stout, longish bills;
and webbed feet. Most gulls are ground-nesting carnivores which take live food or
scavenge opportunistically, particularly the Larus species. Live food often includes crabs
and small fish. Gulls have unhinging jaws which allow them to consume large prey. Gulls are
typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea, except for the
kittiwakes.[5] The large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two
years is typical for small gulls. Large white-headed gulls are typically long-lived birds, with a
maximum age of 49 years recorded for the herring gull.[6]

Gulls nest in large, densely packed, noisy colonies. They lay two or three speckled eggs in
nests composed of vegetation. The young are precocial, born with dark mottled down and
mobile upon hatching.[7] Gulls are resourceful, inquisitive, and intelligent, the larger species
in particular,[8] demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed
social structure. For example, many gull colonies display mobbing behavior, attacking and
harassing predators and other intruders.[9] Certain species have exhibited tool-use
behavior, such as the herring gull, using pieces of bread as bait with which to catch
goldfish, for example.[10] Many species of gulls have learned to coexist successfully with
humans and have thrived in human habitats.[11] Others rely on kleptoparasitism to get their
food. Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on the whale as it surfaces
to peck out pieces of flesh.[12]

Description and morphology

 Tap to display image.

The Pacific gull is a large

white-headed gull with a
particularly heavy bill.

Gulls range in size from the little gull, at 120 grams (41⁄4 ounces) and 29 centimetres (111⁄2
inches), to the great black-backed gull, at 1.75 kg (3 lb 14 oz) and 76 cm (30 in). They are
generally uniform in shape, with heavy bodies, long wings, and moderately long necks. The
tails of all but three species are rounded; the exceptions being Sabine's gull and swallow-
tailed gulls, which have forked tails, and Ross's gull, which has a wedge-shaped tail. Gulls
have moderately long legs, especially when compared to the similar terns, with fully webbed
feet. The bill is generally heavy and slightly hooked, with the larger species having stouter
bills than the smaller species. The bill colour is often yellow with a red spot for the larger
white-headed species and red, dark red or black in the smaller species.[13]

The gulls are generalist feeders. Indeed, they are the least specialised of all the seabirds,
and their morphology allows for equal adeptness in swimming, flying, and walking. They are
more adept walking on land than most other seabirds, and the smaller gulls tend to be more
manoeuvrable while walking. The walking gait of gulls includes a slight side to side motion,
something that can be exaggerated in breeding displays. In the air, they are able to hover
and they are also able to take off quickly with little space.[13]

The general pattern of plumage in adult gulls is a white body with a darker mantle; the
extent to which the mantle is darker varies from pale grey to black. A few species vary in
this, the ivory gull is entirely white, and some like the lava gull and Heermann's gull have
partly or entirely grey bodies. The wingtips of most species are black, which improves their
resistance to wear and tear, usually with a diagnostic pattern of white markings. The head
of a gull may be covered by a dark hood or be entirely white. The plumage of the head
varies by breeding season; in nonbreeding dark-hooded gulls, the hood is lost, sometimes
leaving a single spot behind the eye, and in white-headed gulls, nonbreeding heads may
have streaking.[13]

Distribution and habitat

Tap to display image.

Swallow-tailed gulls are endemic to

the Galapagos Islands.

The gulls have a worldwide cosmopolitan distribution. They breed on every continent,
including the margins of Antarctica, and are found in the high Arctic, as well. They are less
common on tropical islands, although a few species do live on islands such as the
Galapagos and New Caledonia. Many species breed in coastal colonies, with a preference
for islands, and one species, the grey gull, breeds in the interior of dry deserts far from
water. Considerable variety exists in the family and species may breed and feed in marine,
freshwater, or terrestrial habitats.[13]

Most gull species are migratory, with birds moving to warmer habitats during the winter, but
the extent to which they migrate varies by species. Some migrate long distances, like
Franklin's gull, which migrates from Canada to wintering grounds in the south of South
America. Other species move much shorter distances and may simply disperse along the
coasts near their breeding sites.[13]

Behaviour

Diet and feeding

…
Charadriiform birds drink salt water, as well as fresh water, as they possess exocrine glands
located in supraorbital grooves of the skull by which salt can be excreted through the
nostrils to assist the kidneys in maintaining electrolyte balance.[14]
 Tap to display image.

A gull in flight

Gulls are highly adaptable feeders that opportunistically take a wide range of prey. The food
taken by gulls includes fish and marine and freshwater invertebrates, both alive and already
dead, terrestrial arthropods and invertebrates such as insects and earthworms, rodents,
eggs, carrion, offal, reptiles, amphibians, plant items such as seeds and fruit, human refuse,
chips,[15] and even other birds. No gull species is a single-prey specialist, and no gull
species forages using only a single method. The type of food depends on circumstances,
and terrestrial prey such as seeds, fruit, and earthworms are more common during the
breeding season while marine prey is more common in the nonbreeding season when birds
spend more time on large bodies of water.[13]

Tap to display image.

Play media
Hartlaub's gull foot paddling, Cape
Town

In addition to taking a wide range of prey, gulls display great versatility in how they obtain
prey. Prey can be obtained in the air, on water, or on land. In the air, a number of hooded
species are able to hawk insects on the wing; larger species perform this feat more rarely.
Gulls on the wing also snatch items both off water and off the ground, and over water they
also plunge-dive to catch prey. Again, smaller species are more manoeuvrable and better
able to hover-dip fish from the air. Dipping is also common when birds are sitting on the
water, and gulls may swim in tight circles or foot paddle to bring marine invertebrates up to
the surface. Food is also obtained by searching the ground, often on the shore among sand,
mud or rocks. Larger gulls tend to do more feeding in this way. In shallow water gulls may
also engage in foot paddling.[16] A method of obtaining prey unique to gulls involves
dropping heavy shells of clams and mussels onto hard surfaces.[13] Gulls may fly some
distance to find a suitable surface on which to drop shells, and apparently a learned
component to the task exists, as older birds are more successful than younger ones.[17]
While overall feeding success is a function of age, the diversity in both prey and feeding
methods is not. The time taken to learn foraging skills may explain the delayed maturation in
gulls.[13]

Gulls that are known to reside in areas where there is a season of plentiful mice have, over
the centuries, developed a specialized method of eating them. First, the gull captures the
mouse in a field. Next, the gull flies to a convenient body of water. The gull then regurgitates
the mouse and dips it in the water. Biologists who first observed this habit observed it
between mating pairs of gulls. This initially led them to believe that the female was washing
off the mouse after it had been transported to the breeding area. But when lone gulls, both
male and female, began to be seen doing this, it was finally concluded that the mouse,
being dry the first time it was swallowed, could become lodged in the gull's throat, a
conclusion further corroborated when a male gull was seen to struggle with the ejection of
the mouse, the mouse being partially ejected before getting stuck in the gull's throat. After
5 to 6 sizable gulps of water, the mouse was sufficiently moistened to allow the gull to
completely eject the mouse. By wetting the mouse, the gull ensures that the mouse does
not become lodged in its throat.

Gulls have only a limited ability to dive below the water to feed on deeper prey. To obtain
prey from deeper down, many species of gulls feed in association with other animals, where
marine hunters drive prey to the surface when hunting.[13] Examples of such associations
include four species of gulls feeding around plumes of mud brought to the surface by
feeding grey whales,[18] and also between orcas (largest dolphin species) and kelp gulls
(and other seabirds).[19]

Breeding
…

Tap to display image.

Black-legged kittiwakes nest

colonially, but have tiny, closely
packed territories

Gulls are monogamous and colonial breeders that display mate fidelity that usually lasts for
the life of the pair. Divorce of mated pairs does occur, but it apparently has a social cost
that persists for a number of years after the break-up. Gulls also display high levels of site
fidelity, returning to the same colony after breeding there once and even usually breeding in
the same location within that colony. Colonies can vary from just a few pairs to over a
hundred thousand pairs, and may be exclusive to that gull species or shared with other
seabird species. A few species nest singly, and single pairs of band-tailed gulls may breed
in colonies of other birds. Within colonies, gull pairs are territorial, defending an area of
varying size around the nesting site from others of their species. This area can be as large
as a 5-m radius around the nest in the herring gull to just a tiny area of cliff ledge in the
kittiwakes.[13]

Most gulls breed once a year and have predictable breeding seasons lasting for three to five
months. Gulls begin to assemble around the colony for a few weeks prior to occupying the
colony. Existing pairs re-establish their pair-bonds, and unpaired birds begin courting. Birds
then move back into their territories and new males establish new territories and attempt to
court females. Gulls defend their territories from rivals of both sexes through calls and aerial
attacks.[13]

Tap to display image.

The nest of a great black-backed

gull, with three typical eggs

Nest building is also part of the pair-bonding. Gull nests are usually mats of herbaceous
matter with a central nest cup. Nests are usually built on the ground, but a few species build
nests on cliffs, including the kittiwakes, which almost always nest in such habitats, and in
some cases in trees, and high places like Bonaparte's gulls. Species that nest in marshes
must construct a nesting platform to keep the nest dry, particularly in species that nest in
tidal marshes. Both sexes gather nesting material and build the nest, but the division of
labour is not always exactly equal.[13] In coastal towns, many gulls nest on rooftops and can
be observed by nearby human residents.

Clutch size is typically three eggs, although it is two in some of the smaller species and only
one egg for the swallow-tailed gull. Within colonies, birds synchronise their laying, with
synchronisation being higher in larger colonies, although after a certain point, this levels off.
The eggs of gulls are usually dark tan to brown or dark olive with dark splotches and scrawl
markings, and are well camouflaged. Both sexes incubate the eggs, with incubation bouts
lasting between one and four hours during the day and one parent incubating through the
night.[13] Research on various bird species including the gull suggests that females form
pair bonds with other females to obtain alloparental care for their dependent offspring, a
behavior seen in other animal species, like the elephants, wolves, and the fathead
minnow.[20]

Incubation lasts between 22 and 26 days, and begins after laying the first egg, although it is
discontinuous until the second egg is laid. This means the first two chicks are born close
together, and the third chick some time later. Young chicks are brooded by their parents for
about one or two weeks, and often at least one parent remains with them, until they fledge,
to guard them. Both parents feed the chicks, although early on in the rearing period, the
male does most of the feeding and the female most of the brooding and guarding.[13]

Tap to display image.

Play media
Black-tailed gulls following a ferry in
Matsushima, Japan

Taxonomy

The family Laridae was introduced (as Laridia) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel
Rafinesque in 1815.[21][22] The taxonomy of gulls is confused by their widespread
distribution zones of hybridization leading to geneflow. Some have traditionally been
considered ring species, but recent evidence suggests that this assumption is
questionable.[23] Until recently, most gulls were placed in the genus Larus, but this
arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of the genera
Ichthyaetus, Chroicocephalus, Leucophaeus, Saundersilarus, and Hydrocoloeus.[1] Some
English names refer to species complexes within the group:

Large white-headed gull is used to describe the 18 or so herring gull-like species from
California gull to lesser black-backed gull in the taxonomic list below.

White-winged gull is used to describe the four pale-winged, high Arctic-breeding taxa
within the former group; these are Iceland gull, glaucous gull, Thayer's gull, and Kumlien's
gull.
Hybridisation between species of gull occurs quite frequently, although to varying degrees
depending on the species involved. The taxonomy of the large white-headed gulls is
particularly complicated.

In common usage, members of various gull species are often referred to as sea gulls or
seagulls; however, "seagull" is a layperson's term that is not used by most ornithologists
and biologists. This name is used informally to refer to a common local species or all gulls in
general, and has no fixed taxonomic meaning.[24] In common usage, gull-like seabirds that
are not technically gulls (e.g. albatrosses, fulmars, terns, and skuas) may also be referred to
as seagulls by the layperson.

Tap to display image.

Western gull at Point Lobos State

Natural Reserve, CA, USA

The American Ornithologists' Union combines the Sternidae, Stercorariidae, and

Rhynchopidae as subfamilies in the family Laridae, but recent research[25][26][27] indicates
this is incorrect.

List of species

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Gulls acquire food from humans

both through handouts and theft

This is a list of the 54 gull species, presented in taxonomic sequence.

 Tap to display image.

Sabine's gull is the only species in

the genus Xema

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American herring gull eating a sea

star

Tap to display image.

Ivory gull

Tap to display image.

Gull attacking a coot – this gull is

probably going after the bread or
other food item in the bill of this
American coot, though great black-
backed gulls are known to kill and
eat coots
 Tap to display image.

Lesser black-backed gulls in a

feeding frenzy

Tap to display image.

Juvenile ring-billed gull at

Sandy Hook, New Jersey

Tap to display image.

Yellow-legged gull at Essaouira,

Morocco

Genus Larus

Pacific gull, Larus pacificus

Belcher's gull, Larus belcheri

Olrog's gull, Larus atlanticus

Black-tailed gull, Larus crassirostris

 Heermann's gull, Larus heermanni

Common gull or mew gull, Larus canus

Ring-billed gull, Larus delawarensis

California gull, Larus californicus

Great black-backed gull, Larus marinus

Kelp gull, Larus dominicanus (called "southern black-backed gull" or "karoro" in New
Zealand)
Cape gull, Larus dominicanus vetula

Glaucous-winged gull, Larus glaucescens

Western gull, Larus occidentalis

Yellow-footed gull, Larus livens

Glaucous gull, Larus hyperboreus

Iceland gull, Larus glaucoides

Kumlien's gull, Larus glaucoides kumlieni

Thayer's gull, Larus glaucoides thayeri

European herring gull, Larus argentatus

American herring gull, Larus smithsonianus

Caspian gull, Larus cachinnans

Yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis

East Siberian herring gull, Larus vegae

Armenian gull, Larus armenicus

Slaty-backed gull, Larus schistisagus

Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus

Heuglin's gull, Larus fuscus heuglini

Genus Ichthyaetus

White-eyed gull, Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus

Sooty gull, Ichthyaetus hemprichii

Great black-headed gull or Pallas's gull, Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus

 Audouin's gull, Ichthyaetus audouinii

Mediterranean gull, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus

Relict gull, Ichthyaetus relictus

Genus Leucophaeus

Dolphin gull, Leucophaeus scoresbii

Laughing gull, Leucophaeus atricilla

Franklin's gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan

Lava gull, Leucophaeus fuliginosus

Gray gull, Leucophaeus modestus

Genus Chroicocephalus

Silver gull, Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae

Red-billed gull, Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae scopulinus

Hartlaub's gull, Chroicocephalus hartlaubii

Brown-hooded gull, Chroicocephalus maculipennis

Gray-headed gull, Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus

Andean gull, Chroicocephalus serranus

Black-billed gull, Chroicocephalus bulleri

Brown-headed gull, Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus

Black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Slender-billed gull, Chroicocephalus genei

Bonaparte's gull, Chroicocephalus philadelphia

Saunders's gull, Chroicocephalus saundersi

Genus Hydrocoloeus (may include Rhodostethia)

Little gull, Hydrocoloeus minutus

Genus Rhodostethia

Ross's gull, Rhodostethia rosea

Genus Rissa
 Black-legged kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla

Red-legged kittiwake, Rissa brevirostris

Genus Pagophila

Ivory gull, Pagophila eburnea

Genus Xema

Sabine's gull, Xema sabini

Genus Creagrus

Swallow-tailed gull, Creagrus furcatus

Evolution

The Laridae are known from not-yet-published fossil evidence since the Early Oligocene,
some 30–33 million years ago. Three gull-like species were described by Alphonse Milne-
Edwards from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France. A fossil gull from the
Middle to Late Miocene of Cherry County, Nebraska, USA is placed in the prehistoric genus
Gaviota;[28] apart from this and the undescribed Early Oligocene fossil, all prehistoric
species were tentatively assigned to the modern genus Larus. Among those of them that
have been confirmed as gulls, Milne-Edwards' "Larus" elegans and "L." totanoides from the
Late Oligocene/Early Miocene of southeast France have since been separated in
Laricola.[29]

Tap to display image.

Two ring-billed gull chicks sitting

amongst rocks.

References

l. Pons J.-M.; Hassanin A.; Crochet P.-A. (2005). "Phylogenetic relationships within the
Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers". Molecular
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p. "Herring Gull" . The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 3 August 2011.

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4695(2006)29[233vTICABB]2.0.CO;2 .

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lm. "Gulls' vicious attacks on whales" . BBC News. 21 June 2009.

ln. Burger, Alan; Gochfeld, Michael (1996). "Family Laridae (Gulls)". In del Hoyo, Josep;
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lp. Epic Time Pass Channel. "Gull eating chips" . You Tube.

lq. Buckley, P. A. (January–December 1966). "Foot-paddling in Four American Gulls, with

Comments on its Possible Function and Stimulation". Ethology. 23 (4): 395–402.
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PMID 5992179 .

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behavior in herring gulls" (PDF). The Auk. 95 (3): 577–579.
 doi:10.1093/auk/95.3.577 .

ls. Harrison, Craig (1979). "The Association of Marine Birds and Feeding Gray Whales"
(PDF). Condor. 81 (1): 93–95. doi:10.2307/1367866 . JSTOR 1367866 .

lt. Ridoux, Vincent (1987). "Feeding association between seabirds and killer whales,
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et des corps organisés (in French). 1815. Palermo: Self-published. p. 72.

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mn. Liebers, Dorit; de Knijff, Peter; Helbig, Andreas J. (2004). "The herring gull complex is
not a ring species" . Proceedings: Biological Sciences. 271 (1542): 893–901.
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Retrieved 12 September 2018.

mp. Paton, Tara A.; Baker, Allan J. (2006). "Sequences from 14 mitochondrial genes provide
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mq. Paton, T. A.; Baker, A. J.; Groth, J. G.; Barrowclough, G. F. (2003). "RAG-1 sequences
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and Evolution. 29 (2): 268–278. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8 .
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Further reading

Grant, Peter J. (1986) Gulls: a guide to identification ISBN 0-85661-044-5

Howell, Steve N. G. and Jon Dunn (2007) Gulls of the Americas ISBN 0-618-72641-1

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

External links

Look up gull in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laridae.

Wikispecies has information related to Laridae

Rudy's Gull-index Pictures of less well-known plumages of large gulls

Gull videos on the Internet Bird Collection