Ivory Gull

Ivory Gull, adult; above the Arctic Circle; early September

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Ivory Gull, 1st winter (Basic I plumage); above the Arctic Circle; early September

Ivory Gull, 1st summer (Alternate I plumage); above the Arctic Circle; early September

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

A small white gull of the high Arctic, the Ivory Gull only rarely comes south of the Bering Sea or the Maritime Provinces. In fact, it rarely is found away from pack ice, spending the winter on the ice north of Newfoundland.

Description

• Medium-sized gull.
• Pure white.
• Black eyes.
• Black legs and feet.
• Small bill bluish at base, turning grayish green, with yellow or red tip.

• Size: 40-43 cm (16-17 in)
• Wingspan: 108-120 cm (43-47 in)
• Weight: 448-687 g (15.81-24.25 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Call a harsh, discordant, and tern-like "keeuur."

Conservation Status

Little information available because of remote breeding and wintering areas.

Other Names

Goéland sénateur, Mouette blanche (French)
Gaviota marfil (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Ivory Gull casts up pellets of indigestible matter from its food, such as bones and fur. Pellet-casting is most frequent where lemmings are abundant and are the major prey.
• The adult Ivory Gull attending the nest expels its faeces powerfully by aiming its cloaca outward from cliff nest sites.

• Large nests of the Ivory Gull are eaten by caribou during the winter and early spring.

Sources used to construct this page:

Haney, J. C., and S. D. MacDonald. 1995. Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea). In The Birds of North America, No. 175 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists? Union, Washington, D.C.