Charadriiformes / Laridae / Larus
Common Gull
Larus canus · 普通海鸥
Introduction
Medium-sized gull breeding in cool temperate regions of the Palearctic from Iceland and Scotland east to Kamchatka. Most populations migrate south in winter, reaching the Mediterranean Sea, southern Caspian Sea, and seas around China and Japan; northwest European populations are partly resident. Global population estimated at about one million pairs.
Description
Adults are 40–46 cm (16–18 in) long with a wingspan of 100–115 cm (39–45 in). Body is grey above and white below. Legs are yellow in breeding season, becoming duller in winter. Black wingtips feature large white mirrors on outer primaries p9 and p10. In winter, the head is streaked grey and the bill often shows a poorly defined blackish band near the tip. Young birds have scaly black-brown upperparts, pink legs turning greyish in the second year, and take three years (up to four in the Kamchatka subspecies) to reach maturity.
Identification
Noticeably smaller than herring gull and slightly smaller than ring-billed gull. Distinguished from ring-billed gull by a shorter, more tapered bill that is greenish-yellow and unmarked during breeding. Winter bill may show a blackish band. White wing mirrors are smaller than those in short-billed gull. Call is a high-pitched laughing cry.
Distribution & Habitat
Breeds in northern Palearctic from Iceland east to northeast Siberia. Winters in Europe, Mediterranean, Black and Caspian seas, Persian Gulf, Sea of Okhotsk, Japan, Korean Peninsula, and southeast China. Occurs as a scarce winter visitor to coastal eastern Canada and vagrant to northeastern US. Kamchatka gull occasionally seen in northwestern North America.
Behavior & Ecology
Breeds colonially or solitarily; nests on ground or in small trees near water or marshes. Usually lays three eggs, incubated by both parents for 24–26 days. Chicks are precocial, cared for by both parents, and fledge at around 35 days. Omnivorous, scavenging and hunting small prey.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Larus
Subspecies (3)
-
Larus canus canus
breeds Iceland, northern British Isles, Scandinavia, and patchily in central Europe to White Sea (far northwestern Russia); winters to northern Africa
Data Sources
CBR Notes: 中文名由海鸥改为普通海鸥
Species description from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Bird images and sounds sourced from GBIF, contributed by citizen scientists worldwide under Creative Commons licenses.
Taxonomy data from AviList 2025.
