Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull, adult breeding plumage

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Great Black-backed Gull, adult, non-breeding plumage

Great Black-backed Gull, 3rd winter

Great Black-backed Gull, 2nd winter

Great Black-backed Gull, 1st winter

Great Black-backed Gull, juvenile

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

The largest gull in the world, the Great Black-backed Gull is primarily a coastal species. A bird of the North Atlantic, it has been expanding its breeding and wintering ranges farther south along the East Coast and into the Great Lakes.

Description

• Large gull.
• Underparts pure white.
• Back and wings slaty to sooty black.
• Thick yellow bill with red spot on lower mandible.
• Legs pale pink.
• Head has little dusky streaking in winter.
• Takes four years to reach adult plumage.

• Size: 71-79 cm (28-31 in)
• Wingspan: 146-160 cm (57-63 in)
• Weight: 1300-2000 g (45.89-70.6 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, male larger than females.

Sound

Call: a deep, swallowed "woah."

Conservation Status

Populations are increasing and a southward range expansion has been occurring for nearly 100 years. The Great Black-backed Gull can be a serious predator of other colonial nesting birds, such as terns and puffins.

Other Names

Goéland marin (French)
Gavion (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Great Black-backed Gull is one of the many species whose feathers were used for fashionable clothing in the 1800s. After the demise of the feather trade in the early 1900s, Great Black-backed Gull populations increased and the species spread farther south. The exploitation of human refuse undoubtedly has contributed to the successful spread of the species.

• Young Great Black-backed Gulls do not fly away from the nest area until they are about 50 days old. They return to the nesting territory to rest and be fed for another 50 days. Some young may remain with their parents for months after leaving the breeding colony, but most join congregations of other immature gulls in places where food is easy to find.

• In winter, large numbers of young Great Black-backed Gulls eat fish driven to the surface by humpback whales.

Sources used to construct this page:

Good, T. P. 1998. Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus). In The Birds of North America, No. 330 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.