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Gulls (often informally seagulls) are birds in the family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Laridae. They are most closely related to the tern
Tern

Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks....
s (family Sternidae) and only distantly related to auk
Auk

Auks are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. They are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colours, their upright posture and some of their habits....
s, and skimmer
Skimmer

The Skimmers, Rhynchopidae, are a small family of tern-like birds in the order Charadriiformes, which also includes the waders, gulls and auks....
s, and more distantly to the wader
Wader

Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups....
s. Until recently, most gulls were placed in the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Larus
Larus

Larus is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution . Many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges. Until recently, most gulls were placed in this genus, but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of the genera Ichthyaetus, Chroicocephalus, Leucophaeus, an...
, but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of several genera
Genera

Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a Fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with Lisp Machines, Inc....
.

They are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings.






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Gulls (often informally seagulls) are birds in the family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Laridae. They are most closely related to the tern
Tern

Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks....
s (family Sternidae) and only distantly related to auk
Auk

Auks are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. They are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colours, their upright posture and some of their habits....
s, and skimmer
Skimmer

The Skimmers, Rhynchopidae, are a small family of tern-like birds in the order Charadriiformes, which also includes the waders, gulls and auks....
s, and more distantly to the wader
Wader

Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups....
s. Until recently, most gulls were placed in the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Larus
Larus

Larus is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution . Many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges. Until recently, most gulls were placed in this genus, but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of the genera Ichthyaetus, Chroicocephalus, Leucophaeus, an...
, but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of several genera
Genera

Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a Fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with Lisp Machines, Inc....
.

They 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. They have stout, longish bill
Beak

The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which, in addition to eating, is used for Personal grooming#In animals, manipulating objects, killing prey, probing for food, Courtship#Courtship in the animal kingdom and feeding their young....
s, and webbed feet. Gull species range in size from the Little Gull
Little Gull

The Little Gull is a small gull which breeds in northern Europe and Asia. It also has small colonies in parts of northern Canada. It is bird migration, wintering on coasts in western Europe, the Mediterranean and the northeast USA....
, at 120 g (4.2 oz) and 29 cm (11.5 inches), to the Great Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull

The Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus, is a very large gull which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic....
, at 1.75 kg (3.8 lbs) and 76 cm (30 inches).

Biology and habits

Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground nesting carnivore
Carnivore

A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' , is any animal with a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from animals living or dead .In a more general sense, an animal may be considered a carnivore if it prefers feeding on animal matter over plant matter....
s, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. The live food often includes crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
s and small fish. Apart from the kittiwake
Kittiwake

The 'kittiwakes' are two closely related seabird species in the gull family Laridae, the Black-legged Kittiwake and the Red-legged Kittiwake . The epithets "Black-legged" and "Red-legged" are used to distinguish the two species in North America, but in Europe, where R....
s, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea and into surrounding deciduous forests. 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
Gull

Gulls are Aves in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, and skimmers, and more distantly to the waders....
 are typically long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 49 years recorded for the Herring Gull
Herring Gull

The Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, is a large gull , and is the most abundant and best known of all gulls along the shores of Asia, western Europe, and North America....
.

Gulls nest in large, densely packed, and noisy colonies. They lay two to three speckled eggs in nests composed of vegetation. The young are precocial
Precocial

In Biology, the term precocial refers to species in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. The opposite developmental strategy is called "altricial", where the young are born helpless....
, being born with dark mottled down, and mobile from birth.

Gulls—the larger species in particular—are resourceful, inquisitive and highly intelligent birds, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure; for example, many gull colonies display mobbing behaviour, attacking and harassing would-be predators and other intruders. In addition, certain species (e.g. the Herring Gull
Herring Gull

The Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, is a large gull , and is the most abundant and best known of all gulls along the shores of Asia, western Europe, and North America....
) have exhibited tool use behaviour. Many species of gull have learned to coexist successfully with humans and have thrived in human habitats. Others rely on kleptoparasitism
Kleptoparasitism

Kleptoparasitism or cleptoparasitism is a form of feeding where one animal takes prey from another that has caught, killed, or otherwise prepared the prey, including stored food ....
 to get their food. The urban gull population in the United Kingdom has been growing quickly, probably due to laws such as the Clean Air Act 1956
Clean Air Act 1956

The Clean Air Act 1956 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which responded to London's Great Smog of 1952. It was in effect from 1955-1964 and sponsored by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in England and the Department of Health for Scotland....
 which prohibited the burning of garbage by local landfill
Landfill

File:Wysypisko.jpgFile:Landfill face.JPGFile:Landfill.jpg A landfill, also known as a dump , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of list of solid waste treatment technologies....
 owners, thus increasing the availability of food for the gulls.

Taxonomy


The taxonomy
Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
 of gulls is confused by their widespread distribution and geneflow leading to zones of hybridization. Some have traditionally been considered ring species
Ring species

In biology, a ring species is a connected series of neighboring populations that can interbreed with relatively closely related populations, but for which there exist at least two "end" populations in the series that are too distantly related to interbreed....
, but recent evidence suggest this assumption is questionable. 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
Ichthyaetus

Ichthyaetus is a genus of gulls. They were included in the genus Larus until recently....
, Chroicocephalus
Chroicocephalus

Chroicocephalus is a genus of medium to relatively small gulls. They were included in the genus Larus until recently....
, Leucophaeus
Leucophaeus

Leucophaeus is a small genus of medium-sized New World gulls, most of which are dark in plumage, usually with white crescents above and below the eyes....
, Saundersilarus and Hydrocoloeus. 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
    Herring Gull

    The Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, is a large gull , and is the most abundant and best known of all gulls along the shores of Asia, western Europe, and North America....
     species from California Gull
    California Gull

    The California Gull Larus californicus is a medium-sized gull, smaller than the Herring Gull but larger than the Ring-billed Gull.Adults are similar in appearance to the Herring Gull, but have a smaller yellow bill with a black ring, yellow legs, brown eyes and a more rounded head....
     to Lesser Black-backed Gull
    Lesser Black-backed Gull

    The Lesser Black-backed Gull is a large gull which breeds on the Atlantic Ocean coasts of Europe. It is bird migration, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa....
     in the taxonomic list below.
  • White-winged gull is used to describe the 4 pale-winged, High Arctic-breeding taxa within the former group; these are Iceland Gull
    Iceland Gull

    The Iceland Gull, Larus glaucoides, is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland, but not Iceland, where it is only seen in the winter....
    , Glaucous Gull
    Glaucous Gull

    The Glaucous Gull, Larus hyperboreus is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of the northern hemisphere and the Atlantic Ocean coasts of Europe....
    , Thayer's Gull
    Thayer's Gull

    The Thayer's Gull is a large gull native to North America that breeds in the Arctic islands of Canada and primarily winters on the Pacific Ocean coast, from southern Alaska to the Gulf of California, though there are also wintering populations on the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi River....
    , and Kumlien's Gull
    Kumlien's Gull

    Kumlien's Gull, Larus [glaucoides] kumlieni, is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada. It is bird migration, wintering from Labrador south to New England and west across the Great Lakes....
    .


Hybridisation between species of gull occurs quite frequently, although to varying degrees depending on the species involved (see Hybridisation in gulls
Hybridisation in gulls

Hybridisation in gulls 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. This name is used by the layman to refer to a common local species or all gulls in general, and has no fixed taxonomic meaning.

The American Ornithologists' Union
American Ornithologists' Union

The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithology organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birdwatching....
 combines Sternidae, Stercorariidae, and Rhynchopidae as subfamilies in the family Laridae, but recent research indicates that this is incorrect.

List of species


This is a list of gull species, presented in taxonomic sequence.
Seagul Brighton Eating
afterbirth]]

Genus Larus
Larus

Larus is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution . Many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges. Until recently, most gulls were placed in this genus, but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of the genera Ichthyaetus, Chroicocephalus, Leucophaeus, an...
  • Pacific Gull
    Pacific Gull

    The Pacific Gull is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon, Western Australia in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a result of competition from the Kelp Gull, which has "self-introduced" since the 1940s....
    , Larus pacificus
  • Belcher's Gull
    Belcher's Gull

    The Belcher's Gull or Band-tailed Gull, Larus belcheri, is a South American gull.The name of this bird commemorates the British explorer Sir Edward Belcher....
    , Larus belcheri
  • Olrog's Gull
    Olrog's Gull

    The Olrog's Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family.It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.Its natural habitats are shallow seas, sandy shores, and coastal saline lagoons....
    , Larus atlanticus
  • Black-tailed Gull
    Black-tailed Gull

    The Black-tailed Gull is a medium-sized gull, with a wingspan of 126-128 cm. The bird is resident in East Asia, including China, Japan and Korea....
    , Larus crassirostris
  • Heermann's Gull
    Heermann's Gull

    The Heermann's Gull is a gull resident in the United States and Mexico. Of the current population of about 150,000 pairs, 90% nest on the island of Isla Rasa off Baja California in the Gulf of California, with smaller colonies as far north as California and as far south as Nayarit....
    , Larus heermanni
  • Common Gull
    Common Gull

    The Common Gull, Mew Gull or Sea Mew is a medium-sized gull which breeds in northern Asia, northern Europe and northwestern North America....
     or Mew Gull, Larus canus
  • Ring-billed Gull
    Ring-billed Gull

    The Ring-billed Gull is a medium-sized gull.Adults are 49 cm length and with a 124 cm wingspan. They have a white head, neck and underparts and a relatively short, yellow bill with a dark ring....
    , Larus delawarensis
  • California Gull
    California Gull

    The California Gull Larus californicus is a medium-sized gull, smaller than the Herring Gull but larger than the Ring-billed Gull.Adults are similar in appearance to the Herring Gull, but have a smaller yellow bill with a black ring, yellow legs, brown eyes and a more rounded head....
    , Larus californicus
  • Great Black-backed Gull
    Great Black-backed Gull

    The Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus, is a very large gull which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic....
    , Larus marinus
  • Kelp Gull
    Kelp Gull

    The ' Kelp Gull' breeds on coasts and islands through much of the southern hemisphere. The race L. d. vetula occurs around southern Africa, and nominate L....
    , Larus dominicanus (called "Southern Black-backed Gull" or "Karoro" in New Zealand)
    • Cape Gull, Larus dominicanus vetula
  • Glaucous-winged Gull
    Glaucous-winged Gull

    The Glaucous-winged Gull, Larus glaucescens, is a large, white-headed gull residing from the western coast of Alaska to the coast of Washington....
    , Larus glaucescens
  • Western Gull
    Western Gull

    The Western Gull, Larus occidentalis, is a large white-headed gull that lives on the western coast of North America. It was previously considered conspecific with the Yellow-footed Gull of the Gulf of California....
    , Larus occidentalis
  • Yellow-footed Gull
    Yellow-footed Gull

    The Yellow-footed Gull, Larus livens, is a large gull, closely related to the Western Gull and thought to be a subspecies until the 1960s....
    , Larus livens
  • Glaucous Gull
    Glaucous Gull

    The Glaucous Gull, Larus hyperboreus is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of the northern hemisphere and the Atlantic Ocean coasts of Europe....
    , Larus hyperboreus
  • Iceland Gull
    Iceland Gull

    The Iceland Gull, Larus glaucoides, is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland, but not Iceland, where it is only seen in the winter....
    , Larus glaucoides
    • Kumlien's Gull
      Kumlien's Gull

      Kumlien's Gull, Larus [glaucoides] kumlieni, is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada. It is bird migration, wintering from Labrador south to New England and west across the Great Lakes....
      , Larus glaucoides kumlieni
  • Thayer's Gull
    Thayer's Gull

    The Thayer's Gull is a large gull native to North America that breeds in the Arctic islands of Canada and primarily winters on the Pacific Ocean coast, from southern Alaska to the Gulf of California, though there are also wintering populations on the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi River....
    , Larus thayeri
  • Herring Gull
    Herring Gull

    The Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, is a large gull , and is the most abundant and best known of all gulls along the shores of Asia, western Europe, and North America....
    , Larus argentatus
  • Heuglin's Gull
    Heuglin's Gull

    Heuglin's Gull or Siberian Gull, Larus heuglini, is a seabird in the genus Larus. It is closely related to the Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, and is often classified as a subspecies of it....
    , Larus heuglini
  • American Herring Gull
    American Herring Gull

    The American Herring Gull, Larus smithsonianus, is a large gull which breeds in North America. It is often treated as a subspecies of the European Herring Gull but is now regarded as a separate species by some authorities....
    , Larus smithsonianus
  • Yellow-legged Gull
    Yellow-legged Gull

    The Yellow-legged Gull is a large gull of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. It is sometimes considered to be part of the same species as the Caspian Gull and the combined species is then called Larus cachinnans....
    , Larus michahellis
  • Caspian Gull
    Caspian Gull

    Caspian Gull is a English names for organisms applied to the gull taxon Larus cachinnans, a member of the Herring Gull/Lesser Black-backed Gull complex....
    , Larus cachinnans
  • East Siberian Herring Gull, Larus vegae
  • Armenian Gull
    Armenian Gull

    The Armenian Gull is a large gull found in the Caucasus and Middle East. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Herring Gull but is now generally considered to be a separate species....
    , Larus armenicus
  • Slaty-backed Gull
    Slaty-backed Gull

    The Slaty-backed Gull , is a large white-headed gull that breeds on the western coast of Alaska but travels widely during nonbreeding seasons....
    , Larus schistisagus
  • Lesser Black-backed Gull
    Lesser Black-backed Gull

    The Lesser Black-backed Gull is a large gull which breeds on the Atlantic Ocean coasts of Europe. It is bird migration, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa....
    , Larus fuscus


Genus Ichthyaetus
Ichthyaetus

Ichthyaetus is a genus of gulls. They were included in the genus Larus until recently....
  • White-eyed Gull
    White-eyed Gull

    The White-eyed Gull is a small gull which is Endemism in birds to the Red Sea. Its closest relative is the Sooty Gull. It is one of the world's rarest gulls, with a population of just 4,000 - 6,500 pairs....
    , Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus
  • Sooty Gull
    Sooty Gull

    The Sooty Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family.It is found in Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen....
    , Ichthyaetus hemprichii
  • Great Black-headed Gull
    Great Black-headed Gull

    The Great Black-headed Gull or Pallas's Gull, Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus, is a large gull. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus....
    , Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus
  • Audouin's Gull
    Audouin's Gull

    The Audouin's Gull is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa. It breeds on small islands colonially or alone, laying 2-3 eggs on a ground bird nest....
    , Ichthyaetus audouinii
  • Mediterranean Gull
    Mediterranean Gull

    The Mediterranean Gull, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus, is a small gull which breeds almost entirely in Europe, mainly in the south east, especially around the Black Sea, and in central Turkey....
    , Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
  • Relict Gull
    Relict Gull

    The Relict Gull, Ichthyaetus relictus, is a medium-sized gull which breeds in several locations in Mongolia , two in Kazakhstan, one in Russia, and one in China....
    , Ichthyaetus relictus


Genus Leucophaeus
Leucophaeus

Leucophaeus is a small genus of medium-sized New World gulls, most of which are dark in plumage, usually with white crescents above and below the eyes....
  • Dolphin Gull
    Dolphin Gull

    The Dolphin Gull , sometimes erroneously called the Red-billed Gull , is a gull native to southern Chile and Argentina, and the Falkland Islands....
    , Leucophaeus scoresbii
  • Laughing Gull
    Laughing Gull

    The Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, is a medium-sized gull of North America and South America. It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America....
    , Leucophaeus atricilla
  • Franklin's Gull
    Franklin's Gull

    The Franklin's Gull is a small gull. It breeds in central provinces of Canada and adjacent states of the northern USA. It is bird migration, wintering in the Caribbean, Peru, Chile, and Argentina....
    , Leucophaeus pipixcan
  • Lava Gull
    Lava Gull

    The Lava Gull is a large gull. One of the rarest gulls in the world, the entire population lives on the Galapagos Islands and is estimated at 400 pairs....
    , Leucophaeus fuliginosus
  • Gray Gull, Leucophaeus modestus


Genus Chroicocephalus
Chroicocephalus

Chroicocephalus is a genus of medium to relatively small gulls. They were included in the genus Larus until recently....
  • Silver Gull
    Silver Gull

    The Silver Gull also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly coastal areas....
    , Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae
  • Red-billed Gull
    Red-billed Gull

    The Red-billed Gull , also known locally as Mackerel Gull, is a native of New Zealand, being found throughout the country and on outlying islands including the Chatham Islands, where it is known as Jackie, and Sub-antarctic islands.The Maori name of this species is Tarapunga....
    , Chroicocephalus scopulinus
  • Hartlaub's Gull
    Hartlaub's Gull

    The Hartlaub's Gull or King Gull, is a small gull which is a bird migration breeding resident endemic to the Atlantic Ocean coastline of South Africa and Namibia....
    , Chroicocephalus hartlaubii
  • Brown-hooded Gull
    Brown-hooded Gull

    The Brown-hooded Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus....
    , Chroicocephalus maculipennis
  • Gray-hooded Gull, Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus
  • Andean Gull
    Andean Gull

    The Andean Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus....
    , Chroicocephalus serranus
  • Black-billed Gull
    Black-billed Gull

    The Black-billed Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family.It is Endemism to New Zealand. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus, but is now considered to be the genus Chroicocephalus....
    , Chroicocephalus bulleri
  • Brown-headed Gull
    Brown-headed Gull

    The Brown-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus, is a small gull which breeds in the high plateaux of central Asia from Turkmenistan to Mongolia....
    , Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus
  • Black-headed Gull
    Black-headed Gull

    The Black-headed Gull is a small gull which breeds in much of Europe and Asia, and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is bird migration, wintering further south, but some birds in the milder westernmost areas of Europe are resident....
    , Chroicocephalus ridibundus
  • Slender-billed Gull
    Slender-billed Gull

    The Slender-billed Gull, Chroicocephalus genei, is a mid-sized gull which breeds very locally around the Mediterranean and the north of the western Indian Ocean on islands and coastal lagoons....
    , Chroicocephalus genei
  • Bonaparte's Gull
    Bonaparte's Gull

    The Bonaparte's Gull, Chroicocephalus philadelphia, is a small gull.Adults are 31-34 cm long with a 79-84 cm wingspan. They have a black hood and a short thin dark bill....
    , Chroicocephalus philadelphia


Genus Saundersilarus
  • Saunders's Gull
    Saunders's Gull

    The Saunders's Gull is a species of gull in the Laridae family.It is found in China, Hong Kong, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Macau, Russia, Taiwan, and Vietnam....
    , Saundersilarus saundersi


Genus Hydrocoloeus
  • Little Gull
    Little Gull

    The Little Gull is a small gull which breeds in northern Europe and Asia. It also has small colonies in parts of northern Canada. It is bird migration, wintering on coasts in western Europe, the Mediterranean and the northeast USA....
    , Hydrocoloeus minutus


Genus Rhodostethia
  • Ross's Gull
    Ross's Gull

    The Ross's Gull, Rhodostethia rosea, is a small gull, the only species in its genus, although it has been suggested it should be moved to the genus Hydrocoloeus, which otherwise only includes the Little Gull....
    , Rhodostethia rosea


Genus Rissa
Kittiwake

The 'kittiwakes' are two closely related seabird species in the gull family Laridae, the Black-legged Kittiwake and the Red-legged Kittiwake . The epithets "Black-legged" and "Red-legged" are used to distinguish the two species in North America, but in Europe, where R....
  • Black-legged Kittiwake
    Black-legged Kittiwake

    The Black-legged Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.This species was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus....
    , Rissa tridactyla
  • Red-legged Kittiwake
    Red-legged Kittiwake

    The Red-legged Kittiwake, Rissa brevirostris is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. It breeds in the Pribilof, Bogoslof and Buldir islands of the USA, and the Commander Islands, Russia....
    , Rissa brevirostris


Genus Pagophila
  • Ivory Gull
    Ivory Gull

    The Ivory Gull Pagophila eburnea is a small gull, the only species in its genus. It breeds in the high arctic and has a circumpolar distribution through Greenland, northernmost North America, and Eurasia....
    , Pagophila eburnea


Genus Xema
  • Sabine's Gull
    Sabine's Gull

    The Sabine's Gull is a small gull. Its generic placement is disputed; some authors treat it as the sole species in the genus Xema as Xema sabini, while others retain it in the genus Larus as Larus sabini....
    , Xema sabini


Genus Creagrus
  • Swallow-tailed Gull
    Swallow-tailed Gull

    The Swallow-tailed Gull is an equatorial seabird in the gull family Laridae. It is the only species in the genus Creagrus. It was first described by French naturalist and surgeon Adolphe-Simon Neboux in 1846....
    , Creagrus furcatus


Evolution


The Laridae are known from fossil
Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
 evidence since the Early Oligocene
Oligocene

The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Geologic Timescale and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present....
, some 30-33 mya
Mya (unit)

In astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case....
. A fossil gull from the Middle to Late Miocene
Miocene

The Miocene is a Geologic time scale of the Neogene period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.33 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the start and end are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are uncertain....
 of Cherry County, USA is placed in the prehistoric genus Gaviota; 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, "Larus" elegans and "L." totanoides from the Late Oligocene/Early Miocene of southeast France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 have since been separated in Laricola.

Gallery


Bibliography

  • 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
    Helm Identification Guides

    The Helm Identification Guides are a series of books dealing with the identification of groups of birds. The series include two types of guide:...
    , London. ISBN 0-7136-4056-1


External links

  • Pictures of less well-known plumages of large gulls
  • on the Internet Bird Collection
  • Pictures of gulls, sorted by species