Lesser Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull, adult breeding plumage.

About the photographs

About the map

Lesser Black-backed Gull, adult nonbreeding plumage.

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

Common across Europe, the Lesser Black-backed Gull is an uncommon, but regular visitor to eastern North America. Its occurrence on this continent increased dramatically over the last third of the 20th century.

Description

• Medium to large gull.
• Head and underparts white.
• Back dark gray.
• Wingtips black with some white spots.
• Bill yellow with red spot near tip of lower mandible.
• Legs yellow.

• Size: 52-64 cm (20-25 in)
• Wingspan: 135-150 cm (53-59 in)
• Weight: 545-1000 g (19.24-35.3 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, male slightly larger.

Sound

Calls are loud, clear bugling.

Conservation Status

Expanding both wintering and breeding ranges.

Other Names

Goéland brun (French)

Cool Facts

• The Lesser Black-backed Gull is divided into several different subspecies that differ in the darkness of the back. Nearly all individuals that reach North America are of the graellsii subspecies that breeds in Iceland, Britain, and western Europe. It is the palest of the forms, with its back being much lighter than the black wingtips.
• At a Lesser Black-backed Gull breeding colony, immatures, nonbreeding adults, and failed and off-duty breeders form "clubs" near the colony, where they spend time "loafing," resting, and preening. In colonies where other gull species are mixed in, clubs tend to be composed of one species only.

Sources used to construct this page:

1. American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds, 7th ed. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
2. Cramp, S., et. al. 1998. The Complete Birds of the Western Palearctic on CD-ROM. Oxford University Press.