Herring Gull

Herring Gull, adult, breeding plumage

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Herring Gull, 3rd winter plumage

Herring Gull, 2nd winter plumage

Herring Gull, 1st winter plumage

Herring 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 Herring Gull is the quintessential basic "seagull," with no distinctive characters that immediately set it apart from other gull species. The characteristic gull of the North Atlantic, it can be found across much of North America.

Description

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

• Size: 56-66 cm (22-26 in)
• Wingspan: 137-146 cm (54-57 in)
• Weight: 800-1250 g (28.24-44.13 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, male larger than females.

Sound

Calls are loud, clear bugling.

Conservation Status

Hunting for the millinery trade nearly extirpated it from parts of range in 1800s. It has come back to historic high population levels in some areas, and is extending its breeding range southward.

Other Names

Goéland argenté (French)
Gaviota plateada, Apipizca (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Herring Gull is part of a complex of large, white-headed gulls that breed across the northern hemisphere. Some people consider all of the forms as one species, while others would recognize 10 or more species. The Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged gulls currently are recognized as different species, but birds intermediate between them and the Herring Gull occur. Only one form, the American Herring Gull, is common in North America, but several others, such as the Vega Gull and the European Herring Gull, may be rare visitors.

• The Herring Gull has extended its breeding range southward along the Atlantic Coast, and may be displacing the more southern Laughing Gull from some areas. But at the northern end of its range the Herring Gull is itself being displaced by increasing numbers of the Great Black-backed Gull.

• Young Herring Gulls appear more migratory than adults. In some areas, such as the Great Lakes, most adults remain near their breeding grounds, but the nonbreeders move father south in the fall.

• The Herring Gull regularly drinks fresh water when it is available. If none is around, the gull will drink seawater. Special glands located over its eyes allow it to excrete the salt. The salty excretion can be seen dripping out of the gull's nostrils and off the end of its bill.

Sources used to construct this page:

Pierotti, R. J., and T. P. Good. 1994. Herring Gull (Larus argentatus). In The Birds of North America, No. 124 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.