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Common Gull
(Larus canus)
: Race "heinei": "Russian Common Gull"; race "kamtschatschensis":
"Kamchatka Gull"; race "brachyrhynchus": "Mew Gull", "Short-billed Gull"
German name(s): "Sturmmöwe"
Size: 40-46 cm; wing span 100-125 cm
Weight: Race "canus": 290-480 g
race "heinei": 315-550 g
race "kamtschatschensis": 395-585 g
race "brachyrhynchus": 320-550 g
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Common Gulls are medium-sized white-headed gulls.
They take up to 3 years to reach maturity, so there
are 4 phases of
plumage.
Adults
also have slightly different breeding and
eclipse
plumage.
Adult
Common Gulls in
breeding plumage
have a white head, neck, back, tail and chest, with
a tinge of light-grey on belly, vent and undertail coverts.
The wings are homogeneously mid-grey, with a broad white
band showing when the wings are folded. The black triangular
wing tip has a large white "mirror" and white primary tips.
Also the trailing edges of the upperwings are white.
In eclipse
the sides of the head and the nape of the neck are lightly
streaked grey.
The irises are dark-brown. The bill is olive-yellow during
the breeding season.
In eclipse
the bill develops an olive-grey
base and a black band, while the tip remains olive-yellow.
The legs and feet are greyish-yellow to yellow-green.
Second-winter
Common Gulls are similar to
adults in eclipse,
but have a greyer head and chest and a thicker black band
on the bill.
First-winter
Common Gulls have a grey, streaked head with
a black tip of the bill. The nape and sides of the neck,
as well as the chest and flanks, are scalloped light-brown.
While the back is grey, the outer wing coverts are still
dark-grey with light-brown edge lining. The legs, feet
and the base of the bill are pale.
Juveniles
have less grey streaking on the head than older
Common Gulls, but they have a brownish-grey neck and chest,
with more scalloping down the flanks. The wings are dark-grey
and scalloped all over, with light-grey to light-brown edge
lining on all feathers, except the primaries. The black wing
tips show no white at all. The legs and feet are the colour
of skin.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Common
Gull at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
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The global distribution of the Common Gull is available
HERE
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Common Gulls are a partly migratory species that breeds in coastal
and inland areas up to Arctic latitudes, but spends the winters in
(near-)coastal areas in temperate to subtropical climate zones.
There are four races of Common Gulls, which taken all together,
are found all around the northern hemisphere.
Nominate race
"canus" populates Europe, Asia Minor, the eastern Mediterranean
coastline down to the Nile delta and western Asia.
Race "heinei" is found in central northern Asia, while race
"kamtschatschensis" is present only in north-eastern Asia.
Race "brachyrhynchus" occurs in Alaska and in western Canada.
In Europe Common Gulls, nominate race "canus", are
found as permanent residents only
over a limited range that encompasses, apart from a few inland
areas in northern France and western Germany, only the (near-)coastal
fringes of Scotland, northern Ireland, the continental North Sea
coast from about Calais via Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany
to Denmark and continuing to the Baltic Sea coast to about 60
degrees latitude and the southern part of the Norwegian North
Atlantic coast. They are also permanently present in the lake
districts of northern Germany and northern Poland.
In summer they extend their breeding range into all of
Scandinavia and all of European Russia to the North of
the Caspian Sea.
The migratory population spends the northern winters anywhere
on the British Isles, in northern France or anywhere along the
European continental Atlantic or Mediterranean coastline. They
are also winter visitors around the Black Sea.
During the breeding season Common Gulls are found in a variety
of wetland habitats, from coastal areas to inland rivers, lakes
or marshes.
During the winters they tend to stay more in (near-)coastal
habitats.
They readily adapt to the presence of humans and can be found
in harbours, towns and parks, where they often scavenge food.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Race "canus"
D. Wilczynska reports spotting Common Gulls, race
"canus",
in and around Bergen, Norway, in May 2016.
G. Pinelas found a Common Gull, race
"canus",
in Dafundo, Oeiras, Lisbon, Portugal, in December 2017.
H. Dahlem-Senger reports finding Common Gulls, race
"canus",
at Naturschutzgebiet (Nature Reserve) Wallnau/Fehmarn, on the
German Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn, Germany, in June 2018.
Another was found at Ostbense, Ostfriesland, Germany, in June 2021.
M. Eaton reports finding Common Gulls, race
"canus",
in various locations in and around Tromso, Norway, in June 2018,
where they were found breeding at the time.
J. Pires found a Common Gull, race
"canus",
at Almada, Setubal, Portugal, in January 2023.
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Photos |
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Race "canus"
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ADULT |
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BREEDING |
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Frontal view of a Common Gull in breeding
plumage;
note the thin red eye-ring that is not mentioned in all
field guides
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Bergen, Norway, May 2016]
Near-lateral view of a Common Gull in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Naturschutzgebiet Wallnau/Fehmarn, Fehmarn, Germany, June 2018]
Lateral view of a Common Gull in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Bergen, Norway, May 2016]
Lateral view of a Common Gull in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]
Lateral view of a Common Gull in breeding
plumage
in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]
Near-dorsal view of a Common Gull in breeding
plumage in flight
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Bergen, Norway, May 2016]
Near-dorsal view of a Common Gull in breeding
plumage in flight,
now seen issuing its call (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Bergen, Norway, May 2016]
Direct comparison between a Common Gull, back and a
Common Tern in
breeding plumage, front
(photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Naturschutzgebiet Wallnau/Fehmarn, Fehmarn, Germany, June 2018]
Mixed flock of Common Gulls and
European Herring Gulls,
both in breeding
plumage,
feeding off the northern Norwegian coast
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, in June 2018]
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IMMATURE/JUVENILE |
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Near-frontal view of a second calendar-year Common Gull
(photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Dafundo, Oeiras, Lisbon, Portugal, December 2017]
Near-lateral view of a second calendar-year Common Gull
(photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Dafundo, Oeiras, Lisbon, Portugal, December 2017]
Lateral view of a second calendar-year Common Gull
(photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Dafundo, Oeiras, Lisbon, Portugal, December 2017]
Lateral view of a second calendar-year Common Gull
(photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Dafundo, Oeiras, Lisbon, Portugal, December 2017]
Lateral view of a second calendar-year Common Gull
(photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Dafundo, Oeiras, Lisbon, Portugal, December 2017]
Near-dorsal view of a 1-year old Common Gull
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]
Lateral view of a first-winter Common Gull behind a
Black-headed Gull
in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Almada, Setubal, Portugal, January 2023]
Close-up lateral view of a precocial Common Gull chick
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Tromso airport, Tromso, Norway, in June 2018]
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Food, Diet |
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Like all gulls, Common Gulls are opportunistic. They will feed
on anything from carrion and discarded entrails to fish, chicks of
other bird species and eggs.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.