Herring Gull

Herring Gull	Both Sexes Grey upperparts, white head and underparts, and black wing tips. Pink legs. Yellow bill with red spot near tip.
Larus argentatus
Length: 55-67 cm  (22-27")
Wing Span: 130-158 cm  (52-63")
Weight: 750-1250 g  (1½-2¾ lb)
Breeding Pairs: 200 000
Present: All Year
Status: Red

Description

The Herring Gull is larger than the Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, and Lesser Black-backed Gull, but smaller than the Great Black-backed Gull.

In the summer, the adult birds have a pale grey back and wings, which have black wing tips and white spots. The head, neck and breast are white. The legs are pink and the bill is yellow with a red spot near the tip. The eye is yellow with an orange orbital ring.

In the winter, the bill is duller, and the head and neck are streaked with grey.

The plumage varies greatly according to the bird's age and the season. Juveniles are mottled brown with a dark bar at the tip of the tail. Immature birds become progressively greyer above and white below until they reach adult plumage in their 3^rd winter.

Head

Juvenile

Voice

	Call
	Quicktime mp3

The yelping "kyow" and laughing calls, like "gah-gah-gah", of the Herring Gull are very familiar ones at the seaside.

Feeding

Herring Gulls are opportunists and will eat most things: fish, crabs, insects, eggs, young birds, small mammals and garbage.

Nesting

They usually nest in colonies on ledges of sea cliffs or in dunes, but also on building roofs.

The nest is built by both birds from grasses and seaweed.

The smooth, non-glossy pale green eggs have brown blotches on them, and are about 52 mm by 37 mm in size. Both birds share the duty of incubating the eggs and feeding the precocial nestlings.

Movements

British birds are resident and mostly sedentary so that after nesting the adults and juveniles disperse only short distances to favoured feeding grounds, often farmland away from the coasts. Some do migrate to southern Europe and the Mediterranean for the winter, where they are joined by other Continental birds that have migrated southwards. Similarly, the British population may increase three- or fourfold when Icelandic and Scandinavian birds  stay for the winter.

Conservation

Unbelievably, this once common gull of the seaside is now a red list species of conservation concern owing to its population declining by more half in the last 25 years.

My Garden

Herring Gulls are often seen flying over the garden, especially in the winter months, but none have ever been seen in the gardens or on the roofs.