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.