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European Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) German name(s): "Silbermöwe" Size: 60-67 cm (male), 55-62 cm (female); wing span: 1.25-1.55 m Body mass: 1.05-1.5 kg (male), 0.71-1.1 kg (female) Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.42-0.55

Europe: Family Group 10 Family Group 10 Table Great Skua Arctic Skua Pomarine Skua Caspian Gull Great Black-backed Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull American Herring Gull European Herring Gull Yellow-legged Gull Audouin's Gull Slender-billed Gull Iceland Gull Common Gull Ring-billed Gull Black-headed Gull Bonaparte's Gull Mediterranean Gull Little Gull Sabine's Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Caspian Tern Sandwich Tern Gull-billed Tern Common Tern Arctic Tern Little Tern Forster's Tern Whiskered Tern Black Tern White-winged Black Tern Atlantic Puffin Razorbill Common Guillemot Black Guillemot Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description European Herring Gulls are large, white-headed gulls. They take four years to reach maturity, so there are five different phases of plumage. During the breeding season, adult European Herring Gulls have an all-white head and front, with narrow yellow to orange eye-rings. The belly can have a light-grey tinge. The wings are grey (those of race "argenteus" being a slightly lighter shade of grey than nominate race "argentatus"), with black tips on the outer primaries, which also have white spots on them. In-flight the wings show white leading and trailing edges. The tail is white. In eclipse, the back of the head and the neck can be slightly streaked grey, but otherwise, except for wear and tear, the plumage remains the same. Their most prominent (but not unique!) feature is the strong, yellow bill with a red spot near the tip of the lower mandible. The irises are pale-grey. The legs and feet are fleshy-pink. There are 3 different immature plumages. The plumage of third-year birds already closely resembles that of adults, but with some residual grey streaking on the head, nape of the neck and some of the flight feathers. The bill is mostly light-grey, with a black spot (across both mandibles) near the tip. The legs and feet are fleshy-pink. Second-year birds have a mottled grey head, a mostly light-grey front and mottled grey sides. The wings are mostly grey, with some mottling on the coverts; the tips of the outer primaries and the tail are black. The legs and feet are still pinkish. The irises are quite dark. The frontal half of the bill is black, with a light-grey tip, the base is grey. Except for a grey front of the head and a grey belly, first-year European Herring Gulls are mottled grey all over, with streaking on the breast, but a bolder pattern on the wings. The irises are dark. The bill is black with a grey base. Juveniles have an all-black bill, a strongly streaked front and boldly scalloped brownish-grey wings. Twitcher's tip The easiest way of telling European Herring Gulls and Yellow-legged Gulls apart is by the colour of the adults' legs.

Taxonomy, classification See European Herring Gull at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species 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 . The global distribution of the European Herring Gull is available HERE . European Herring Gulls are found only in Europe and in Iceland and during winter on the North-east Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. European Herring Gulls are a partly migratory species that is found only in (near-)coastal areas of western, central and northern Europe. They are permanent residents in the coastal regions spanning from the central French Atlantic coastline on the Bay of Biscay near Bordeaux in the South to the northern edge of Varanger peninsula at the north-eastern tip of Scandinavia in the North. Nominate race "argentatus" populates the Norwegian coastline, the coastline of the Baltic Sea up to central Sweden and southern Finland, and north-western Russia. The north-western migratory population spends the northern winters along the coastline of the southern Bay of Biscay, and along the North and northern East coast of Iberia, to about central Portugal in the South. The range of race "argenteus" encompasses the Atlantic and North Sea coastline from France to Germany and all (near-)coastal areas of the British isles, Ireland and Iceland.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "argentatus" M. Eaton reports spotting European Herring Gulls, nominate race "argentatus", at Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, in June 2018. C. Pears found European Herring Gulls, nominate race "argentatus", in Tromso, Norway, in September 2024, and in Bergen, Norway, in October 2024. Race "argenteus" C. Pears reports finding European Herring Gulls, race "argenteus", at Whitby, Yorkshire, England, UK, in September 2014. Others were found in various other locations around England and Ireland, e.g. at Silloth on the Solway Firth, Cumbria, England, UK, in September 2023. The species was also spotted at Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire, England, UK, and in other locations around Yorkshire, in September 2025. H. Dahlem-Senger reports spotting European Herring Gulls, race "argenteus", near Noordwijk, Zuid Holland, Netherlands, in November 2016, at Grüner Brink, Fehmarn, Germany, in May 2019, and along the German North Sea coastline in June 2021. M. Thomas reports spotting European Herring Gulls, race "argenteus", in Lökken, Jütland, Denmark, in September 2019. M. Eaton found European Herring Gulls, race "argenteus", at Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, UK, in September 2019. J. Pires found European Herring Gulls, race "argenteus", at Cabo Sardao, Odemira, Portugal, in October 2019.

Photos

Race "argentatus"

This race is also called the "Scandinavian Herring Gull".

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Frontal view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage; note the characteristic light-grey mantle; the absence of streaking from head and neck is typical for breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]

Near-frontal view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]

Near-lateral view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]

Lateral view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]

Lateral view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]

Lateral view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage on land; here one can see its greyish-pink legs and feet
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]

Lateral view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]

Mixed flock of European Herring Gulls and Common Gulls, both in breeding plumage, feeding off the northern Norwegian coast (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Close-up full-frontal view of a juvenile European Herring Gull; note the brownish, mottled plumage
(photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bergen, Norway, October 2024]

Close-up frontal view of a juvenile European Herring Gull looking sideways (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bergen, Norway, October 2024]

Close-up near-frontal view of a juvenile European Herring Gull looking towards the observer
(photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bergen, Norway, October 2024]

Close-up near-frontal view of a juvenile European Herring Gull (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Tromso, Norway, September 2024]

Close-up near-lateral portrait of a juvenile European Herring Gull with a view of the inside of the bill (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bergen, Norway, October 2024]

Close-up near-lateral view of a juvenile European Herring Gull - note the prominent notches on the upperparts and the rather homogeneous overall colouring (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bergen, Norway, October 2024]

Close-up near-lateral view of a juvenile European Herring Gull looking sideways
(photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Tromso, Norway, September 2024]

Close-up lateral portrait of a juvenile European Herring Gull (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bergen, Norway, October 2024]

Close-up lateral view of a juvenile European Herring Gull (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Tromso, Norway, September 2024]

Race "argenteus"

This race is also called the "West European Herring Gull".

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage; the absence of streaking from head and neck is typical for breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Harlesiel, Ostfriesland, Germany, June 2021]

Near-lateral view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage; note the very light-grey mantle characteristic of this race (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Grüner Brink, Fehmarn, Germany, May 2019]

Lateral view of a European Herring Gull in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Near Noordwijk, Zuid Holland, Netherlands, November 2016]

NON-BREEDING

Close-up frontal view of a European Herring Gull in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bridlington, Yorkshire, England, UK, September 2025]

Frontal view of a European Herring Gull in non-breeding plumage; note the very light-grey mantle characteristic of this race; the streaking on head and neck is typical for non-breeding plumage - click on image to also see a Lesser Black-backed Gull (photo courtesy of M. Thomas)
[Lökken, Jütland, Denmark, September 2019]

Frontal/ventral view of a European Herring Gull in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, UK, September 2019]

Near-frontal view of a European Herring Gull in non-breeding plumage; note the very light-grey mantle characteristic of this race; the streaking on head and neck is typical for non-breeding plumage - click on image to also see a Lesser Black-backed Gull (photo courtesy of M. Thomas)
[Lökken, Jütland, Denmark, September 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a European Herring Gull in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bridlington, Yorkshire, England, UK, September 2025]

Close-up lateral view of a European Herring Gull in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, UK, September 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a European Herring Gull in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Near Noordwijk, Zuid Holland, Netherlands, November 2016]

Close-up near-dorsal view of a European Herring Gull in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, UK, September 2019]

Lateral view of a European Herring Gull moulting into non-breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire, England, UK, September 2025]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a third-winter European Herring Gull; note the streaking on the head, nape of the neck and, in particular, the greyish-brown barring on the wing coverts (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Near Noordwijk, Zuid Holland, Netherlands, November 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a third-winter European Herring Gull (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Cabo Sardao, Odemira, Portugal, October 2019]

Lateral view of a first-winter European Herring Gull (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Silloth, Solway Firth, Cumbria, England, UK, September 2023]

Lateral/ventral view of a first-winter European Herring Gull in flight (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire, England, UK, September 2025]

Close-up lateral view of a juvenile European Herring Gull (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bridlington, Yorkshire, England, UK, September 2025]

Close-up near-dorsal view of a juvenile European Herring Gull (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bridlington, Yorkshire, England, UK, September 2025]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary/nomadic

Elementary unit: Solitary/mob

Although spending much time roaming out at sea (North Sea and north-eastern Atlantic Ocean), on land (from the Bay of Biscaye to northern Norway, including the British Isles) much of the population of European Herring Gulls is sedentary. In summer part of the population moves short-distance to extend their breeding range into much of Finland and the Baltic states.

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.

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