Guide to North American Birds
Conservation status Numbers and distribution have expanded greatly during the last century.
Family Gulls and Terns
Habitat Beaches, bays, coasts, garbage dumps. Mostly along coast, including bays, estuaries, coastal islands; also around lakes inland, especially Great Lakes and elsewhere in northeast. Concentrates around sources of food, such as garbage dumps, fishing harbors.
Once a rare stray to North America, this European gull has become a very common visitor here. Thousands are found every winter (with smaller numbers at other seasons), mainly along the Atlantic Coast south to Florida and inland to the Great Lakes, but with smaller numbers all across the continent. This increase undoubtedly is related to the growing population of the species in Iceland, where it first nested in the 1920s and is now present by the thousands, and in Greenland, where it is a more recent arrival. Similar in appearance and habits to the Herring Gull, but slightly smaller, and may be more agile in flight.

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Feeding Behavior

Forages by swooping down to sea surface in flight, or picks up items while swimming, walking, or wading. May steal food from other birds.


Eggs

(3, sometimes 1-4) brown or olive to blue-green, usually blotched with dark brown. Incubation is by both sexes, 24-27 days. Young: Both parents feed young. Downy young may leave nest after a few days, but remain in vicinity. Age at first flight about 30-40 days.


Young

Both parents feed young. Downy young may leave nest after a few days, but remain in vicinity. Age at first flight about 30-40 days.

Diet

Omnivorous. Diet includes a wide variety of fish, insects, mollusks, crustaceans, marine worms, small birds, nestlings, eggs, rodents; also eats berries, seeds, seaweed. Also scavenges refuse around garbage dumps.


Nesting

Not yet established as a nesting bird in North America, although single birds have paired up with Herring Gulls at a couple of colonies. Usually first breeds at age of 4 years. Nests in colonies. Nest site on ground, sometimes on cliff ledge or on roof of building. Nest (built by both sexes) a mound of grasses, seaweed, debris, with shallow depression at top lined with finer materials.

Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds

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Migration

May be found in North America during every month of the year, but largest numbers are seen during winter. Some move quite far south: common in Florida, regular in coastal Texas and parts of the Caribbean. Most of those wintering in North America probably come from Iceland and Greenland.

See a fully interactive migration map for over 450 bird species on the Bird Migration Explorer.

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Songs and Calls

A strident kyow; deeper than that of Herring Gull.
Audio © Lang Elliott, Bob McGuire, Kevin Colver, Martyn Stewart and others.
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