Yellow-legged Gull

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

Codes: Common Name: YLGU Scientific Name: LARCAC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554270

Yellow-legged Gull: The breeding adult Yellow-legged Gull is white over all with medium gray back and wings. The legs and feet are yellow and the bill is yellow with a red spot near the tip on the lower mandible.

Related Birds

Herring Gull
Iceland Gull

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Overview

Yellow-legged Gull: Large white gull, medium gray upperparts and red spot on bright yellow bill; legs and feet are yellow. Tail is white. Wades or makes shallow dives to catch food, steals, scavenges. Strong, direct flight with deep, steady wing beats. Rides thermals and updrafts, sometimes hovers.

Range and Habitat

Yellow-legged Gull: A European and Asian gull that very rarely wanders to Newfoundland or the north Atlantic Coast. Mostly found near the ocean or large bodies of water.

Topo Map: Gull-like Body

Voice Text

"kee-yow"

Interesting Facts

The Yellow-legged Gull was first described in 1840 by Friedrich Naumann, a German scientist and editor.

It was sometimes considered to be part of the same species as the Caspian Gull and the combined species was then called Larus cachinnans.

It is now generally accepted that the Yellow-legged Gull is a full species, but until recently there was much disagreement.

A group of gulls has many collective nouns, including a "flotilla", "gullery", "screech", "scavenging", and "squabble" of gulls.

Bird Term Glossary

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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-legged Gull

● Song: "kee-yow"

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow-legged Gull: Usually found near ocean or shorelines, feeding on almost anything it can eat. May rob food from other seabirds.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow-legged Gull: Monogamous and colonial. Nest built by both sexes on ground or on cliff ledges; lined with debris, grasses, and feathers. Three eggs, buff or olive and marked with brown, black, or olive, incubated 28 to 30 days by both adults. Young stay in nest 35 to 45 days; one brood per year.

● Similar species: Yellow-legged Gull: Herring Gull has pink legs and longer bill.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight.

● Range & Habitat: Yellow-legged Gull: A European and Asian gull that very rarely wanders to Newfoundland or the north Atlantic Coast. Mostly found near the ocean or large bodies of water.

^BreedingColonial

^PopulationAbundant on breeding grounds

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight44.8 Ounces

Gull-like Body

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

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