Yellow-footed Gull

Larus livensOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)

Codes: Common Name: YFGU Scientific Name: LARLIV ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176880

Breeding Location:

Beaches, coastal

Breeding Type:

Colonial or solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Fairly common in range

Egg Color:

Light olive to buff with dark brown markings

Number of Eggs:

2 - 3

Incubation Days:

26 - 30

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Bits of vegetation, feathers, and miscellaneous debris.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

General

Yellow-footed Gull: Large, dark-backed, white gull with distinctive yellow legs. Bulbous bill is yellow with a red spot near tip of lower mandible. Upper wings are dark gray with white spots near tips and white trailing edges. Sexes are similar; winter adult resembles breeding adult. Juvenile is mottled gray-brown and has dark tail, faintly spotted white rump, black bill and pink-gray legs; 1st winter is similar but shows more uniform gray-brown on upperparts, more solid white on underparts, and has pale base on lower mandible. 1st summer is similar to 1st winter but is more distinctly gray and white, and has black-tipped pale yellow bill. 2nd winter resembles winter adult but shows gray streaks on head and neck and has black tail and black-tipped yellow bill.

Range and Habitat

Yellow-footed Gull: Endemic to the shores and marine waters of the Gulf of California, also wanders north to the Salton Sea in southern California after the breeding season.

Breeding and Nesting

Yellow-footed Gull: Nest is a simple scrape on the ground. Two to three light olive to buff eggs with dark brown markings are incubated by both parents for about 28 days. Chicks leave the nest within the first day, but stay in general vicinity for 30 to 45 days and make their first flight when about 49 days old.

Foraging and Feeding

Yellow-footed Gull: Feeds along shorelines and shallow waters along the ocean, and along the shores of the Salton Sea in southern California. Preys and scavenges on a wide variety of food items, including marine invertebrates, eggs, and smaller birds.

Vocalization

Yellow-footed Gull: Yelps and cries like other large gulls, but on a lower pitch.

Similar Species

Yellow-footed Gull: Western Gull very similar but easily distinguished by its pink legs.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Yellow-footed Gull

Yellow-footed Gull: Large, dark-backed, white gull with distinctive yellow legs. Bulbous bill is yellow, red spot near tip of lower mandible. Upper wings are dark gray with white spots near tips, white trailing edges. Strong, direct flight with deep, steady wing beats. Rides thermals and updrafts.

● Song: "quock, kuck, kuck, kuck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow-footed Gull: Feeds along shorelines and shallow waters along the ocean, and along the shores of the Salton Sea in southern California. Preys and scavenges on a wide variety of food items, including marine invertebrates, eggs, and smaller birds.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow-footed Gull: Nest is a simple scrape on the ground. Two to three light olive to buff eggs with dark brown markings are incubated by both parents for about 28 days. Chicks leave the nest within the first day, but stay in general vicinity for 30 to 45 days and make their first flight when about 49 days old.

● Similar species: Yellow-footed Gull: Western Gull very similar but easily distinguished by its pink legs.

Flight Pattern

Strong and direct flight.

● Range & Habitat: Yellow-footed Gull: Endemic to the shores and marine waters of the Gulf of California, also wanders north to the Salton Sea in southern California after the breeding season.

^BreedingColonial or solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common in range

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight46.4 Ounces

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Lower mandible

The lower part of the bill.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America