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Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) German name(s): "Mantelmöwe" Size: 64-79 cm; wing span: 1.5-1.7 m Body mass: 0.75-2.3 kg Wing loading [g/cm2]: ca. 0.71

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 Great Black-backed Gulls are the world's largest gulls. They take three years to reach maturity, so there are four different phases of plumage. During the breeding season, adult Great Black-backed Gulls have an all-white head and front, with narrow red eye-rings. The mantle is dark-grey and the dark-grey wings have a narrow white fringe all round and four white spots on the ends of the outer flight feathers that are prominently visible on the folded wings. In eclipse 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 two year old birds already closely resembles that of adults, but with some residual grey streaking on the head and neck and with some sub-adult wing coverts. The bill is mostly olive-grey, with a black band across both mandibles near the tip. The legs and feet are greyish-pink. One year old 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 greyish. The irises are quite dark. The frontal half of the bill is black, with a light-grey tip, the base is grey. Juveniles have an all-black bill, a strongly streaked front and boldly scalloped brownish-grey mantle and wings with pale tail tips.

Taxonomy, classification See Great Black-backed 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 Great Black-backed Gull is available HERE . Great Black-backed Gulls are a partly sedentary, partly migratory species. They populate the coastal fringes of northern and western Europe, Iceland, southern Greenland and north-eastern North America, down to the Gulf of Mexico. In North America they also go inland, mostly along the Saint Lawrence River towards the Great Lakes, but generally into the eastern half of the continent. During winter they spend much time on the northern Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. In Europe Great Black-backed Gulls are partly sedentary and partly migratory species that is found only in (near-)coastal areas. They are sedentary on the French coastline, from the Gulf of Biscaye to the English Channel, along the entire West and North coast of the British Isles, including Ireland, along the coastline of northern Denmark and the Danish islands, along the Norwegian coastline up to the Arctic circle and in southern Finland. In the northern Baltic Sea, the lake districts of southern Sweden and southern Finland and in northern Scandinavia, up to the Kola peninsula, they are summer breeding migrants. Their wintering range extends from the southern tip of Iberia, along the European Atlantic coastline, to large parts of England and to the northern Netherlands and Germany. Their winter range the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean eastward of the longitude of Lisbon, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, up to the Arctic circle.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Eaton reports spotting Great Black-backed Gulls at Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, in June 2018. M. Eaton also found a Great Black-backed Gull near Padstow and in Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, in September 2019. G. Pinelas reports finding Great Black-backed Gulls occasionally during the winter months along the coastline of southern/central Portugal, in particular at Costa de Caparica and along Torre Beach. J. Pires spotted Great Black-backed Gulls at Cabo Raso, Cascais, near Lisbon, Portugal, in October 2019. Others were found in the Sado estuary, Setubal, Portugal, in February 2025. C. Pears reports finding large numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls at Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland, in August 2023.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Frontal/lateral view of two Great Black-backed Gulls in breeding plumage; note the characteristic dark-grey mantle and the massive bill (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Setubal, Portugal, February 2025]

Near-frontal view of a Great Black-backed Gull in breeding plumage - the bird is surrounded by other, smaller gulls including, on the left, a Yellow-legged Gull (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Costa de Caparica, Portugal, June 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Great Black-backed Gull in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, September 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Great Black-backed Gull in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Torre Beach, Carcavelos, near Lisbon, Portugal, November 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Great Black-backed Gull in breeding plumage, surrounded by other, smaller gulls
(photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Costa de Caparica, Portugal, September 2017]

Lateral view of a Great Black-backed Gull in breeding plumage; note the characteristic dark-grey mantle and the massive bill (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Torre Beach, Carcavelos, near Lisbon, Portugal, November 2017]

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

Near-dorsal view of a Great Black-backed Gull in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Setubal, Portugal, February 2025]

Dorsal view of a Great Black-backed Gull in heavily worn breeding plumage looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Padstow, Cornwall, England, September 2019]

NON-BREEDING

Flock of Great Black-backed Gull either in, or moulting into, non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland, August 2023]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a fourth calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull surrounded by other, smaller gulls (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Costa de Caparica, Portugal, June 2017]

Lateral view of a third calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull that has lost a foot, surrounded by other, smaller gulls (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Costa de Caparica, Portugal, June 2017]

Lateral view of a second calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull surrounded by other, smaller gulls
(photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Costa de Caparica, Portugal, March 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a second calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Cabo Raso, Cascais, near Lisbon, Portugal, October 2019]

Frontal view of a first calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull surrounded by other, smaller gulls (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Costa de Caparica, Portugal, November 2017]

Lateral view of a first calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull; note the size of this bird compared to the Lesser Black-backed Gull in the background (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Torre Beach, Carcavelos, near Lisbon, Portugal, November 2017]

Lateral view of a first calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, in June 2018]

Lateral view of a first calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull surrounded by other, smaller gulls (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Costa de Caparica, Portugal, July 2017]

Lateral view of a first calendar-year Great Black-backed Gull surrounded by other, smaller gulls (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Costa de Caparica, Portugal, July 2017]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, in June 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Partially migratory/nomadic

Elementary unit: Solitary/mob

While spending much of their time at sea (North Sea, eastern Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea), through much of their range, from the Bay of Biscaye to central Norway (and the British Isles) and around the southern Baltic Sea, Great Black-backed Gulls are sedentary. In summer they extend their breeding range further northward.

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a Great Black-backed Gull in breeding plumage ripping parts out of a substantial piece of fish (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Setubal, Portugal, February 2025]

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