American herring gull
American herring gull | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Adult on nest | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Laridae |
Genus: | Larus |
Species: | L. smithsonianus
|
Binomial name | |
Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862
| |
![]() | |
Synonyms | |
Larus argentatus smithsonianus |
The American herring gull or Smithsonian gull (Larus smithsonianus or Larus argentatus smithsonianus) is a large gull that breeds in North America, where it is treated by the American Ornithological Society as a subspecies of herring gull (L. argentatus).
Adults are white with gray back and wings, black wingtips with white spots, and pink legs. Immature birds are gray-brown and are darker and more uniform than European herring gulls, with a darker tail. As is common with other gulls, they are colloquially referred to simply as seagulls.
It occurs in a variety of
Taxonomy
This gull was first described as a new species in 1862 by
The taxonomy of the herring gull group is very complicated and much is still controversial and uncertain. A 2002 study suggested that the American herring gull is not closely related to European herring gulls, belonging instead to a separate
Description
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Herring_Gull_and_chick%2C_NL.jpg/220px-Herring_Gull_and_chick%2C_NL.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/American_Herring_Gull_%28Larus_smithsonianus%29_RWD3.jpg/220px-American_Herring_Gull_%28Larus_smithsonianus%29_RWD3.jpg)
It is a heavily built large gull with a long powerful bill, full chest and sloping forehead.[5] Males are 60–66 cm (24–26 in) long and weigh 1,050–1,650 g (2.31–3.64 lb). Females are 53–62 cm (21–24 in) long and weigh 600–900 g (1.3–2.0 lb). The wingspan is 120 to 155 cm (47 to 61 in).[6][7] Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 41.2 to 46.8 cm (16.2 to 18.4 in), the bill is 4.4 to 6.2 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in) and the tarsus is 5.5 to 7.6 cm (2.2 to 3.0 in).[7]
Breeding adults have a white head, rump, tail, and underparts and a pale gray back and upperwings. The wingtips are black with white spots known as "mirrors" and the trailing edge of the wing is white. The underwing is grayish with dark tips to the outer primary feathers. The legs and feet are normally pink but can have a bluish tinge, or occasionally be yellow. The bill is yellow with a red spot on the lower mandible. The eye is bright, pale to medium yellow, with a bare yellow or orange ring around it. In winter, the head and neck are streaked with brown.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/American_Herring_Gull_juv_-_natures_pics.jpg/220px-American_Herring_Gull_juv_-_natures_pics.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/American_Herring_Gull_on_an_unidentified_pier.jpg/220px-American_Herring_Gull_on_an_unidentified_pier.jpg)
Young birds take four years to reach fully adult plumage. During this time they go through several plumage stages and can be very variable in appearance. First-winter birds are gray-brown with a dark tail, a brown rump with dark bars, dark outer primaries and pale inner primaries, dark eyes, and a dark bill, which usually develops a paler base through the winter. The head is often paler than the body. Second-winter birds typically have pale eyes, pale bill with black tip, pale head, and begin to show gray feathers on the back. Third-winter birds are closer to adults but still have some black on the bill and brown on the body and wings and have a black band on the tail.
Voice
It has no song but possesses a variety of cries and calls. An initial call in response to a threat is a quick "hahaha", varying in intensity depending on the threat.[8] The more-intense "keow" is a loud yet short alarm call that is both identifying and communicative of impending danger.[8][9] The "long call" is a series of loud notes during which the head is dipped and then raised. The "choking" call is produced during courtship displays, nest construction or territorial disputes, accompanied by a rapid bobbing of the head in a direction of interest.[8][10] The "mew" call is used with an extended downturned neck to call attention in many contexts including chick or mate calling and nest defense.[9] Juvenile birds emit high-pitched plaintive cries to elicit feeding behavior from a parent and may also emit a clicking distress call when a parent suddenly flies off [citation needed].
Similar species
Adult European herring gulls are very similar to American herring gulls but those of the subspecies L. a. argenteus are smaller than many American birds[7] while those of the northern subspecies L. a. argentatus are typically darker gray above. European birds lack the long gray tongues on the 6th, 7th, and 8th primaries and solid black markings on the 5th and 6th primaries that are shown by American herring gulls.[11] First-winter European birds have more checkered upperparts, more streaked underparts, and a paler rump and base to the tail.[5]
Distribution and habitat
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/American_Herring_Gull.jpg/220px-American_Herring_Gull.jpg)
The breeding range extends across the northern part of North America from central and southern Alaska to the Great Lakes and the northeast coast of the United States from Maine south to North Carolina. It breeds over most of Canada apart from the southwest and Arctic regions.
Birds are present all year in southern Alaska, the Great Lakes, and the north-east USA, but most birds winter to the south of the breeding range as far as Mexico with small numbers reaching
It usually nests in colonies near water on coasts, islands, and cliffs. It also nests on rooftops in some cities. It feeds at sea and on beaches, mudflats, lakes, rivers, fields, and refuse dumps. It roosts in open areas close to feeding sites.[6]
Behavior
Feeding
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/American_Herring_Gull_RWD2_.jpg/220px-American_Herring_Gull_RWD2_.jpg)
It has a varied diet, including marine
Reproduction
Pairs form in March or April. The nest is a scrape on the ground lined with vegetation such as grass, seaweed, and feathers.
Status
The species became quite rare during the 19th century when it was hunted for its eggs and feathers. From the 1930s to the 1960s, it increased rapidly due to protection from hunting, increased waste from fisheries to feed on, and less competition for small fish and invertebrates as humans reduced the populations of large fish, whales, and pinnipeds (seals). It was one of many impacted by high DDT usage, and was the target of the study that first linked DDT to eggshell thinning.[17] Population growth leveled off during the 1970s and 80s and may now be declining in some areas.[6]
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Sangster, George; J. Martin Collinson; Alan G. Knox; David T. Parkin & Lars Svensson (2007). Taxonomic recommendations for British birds: 4th report, Ibis, 149 (4): 853-857.
- ^ Larus argentatus, AOU checklist
- ^ a b c Dubois, Philippe J. (1997). Identification of North American herring gull. British Birds 90:314-324.
- ^ a b c d e f Pierotti, R. J. & T. P. Good (1994). Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 31 October 2008. [Subscription required]
- ^ ISBN 978-0691119977.
- ^ a b c Tinbergen, Niko (1960). The Herring Gull's World. Basic Books, Inc.
- ^ a b "Herring Gull Sounds, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology".
- ^ a b Stokes, Donald & Lillian Stokes (1996). Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region. Little, Brown & Co.
- ^ Clarke, Tony; Chris Orgill & Tony Disley (2006). Field Guide to the Birds of the Atlantic Islands. Christopher Helm, London.
- ^ Mata, Jorge R. Rodriguez; Francisco Erize & Maurice Rumboll (2006). A Field Guide to the Birds of South America: Non-Passerines. HarperCollins, London.
- ISBN 978-0-7136-8673-9
- ^ Quinn, David (2009). American Herring Gull in Cheshire & Wirral: new to Britain British Birds 102(6):342-7
- ^ Sonja Barisic (Associated Press) (2001-04-22). "Biologist Cracks Case of Adaptive Bird Behavior". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
- ^ a b Ehrlich, Paul R.; David S. Dobkin & Darryl Wheye (1988). The Birder's Handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon & Schuster, New York.
- ^ Smith, Jeff (9 May 2017). "The Science Behind Northport's Gull Island". MyNorth.com. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
Further reading
Identification
- Lonergan, Pat and Killian Mullarney (2004) Identification of American Herring Gull in a western European context Dutch Birding 26(1): 1-35
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikispecies-logo.svg/34px-Wikispecies-logo.svg.png)