Bird name:

Thayer's Gull

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

Codes: Common Name: THGU Scientific Name: LARTHA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176828

Thayer's Gull - The breeding adult Thayer’s Gull has gray upperparts, a white head, and white underparts. The bill is yellow with a red spot near the end of the lower mandible. Wings are gray with white-spotted, dark gray tips. Legs are dark pink.

Thayer's Gull 1st winter - The first winter Thayer’s Gull is brown overall with a dark brown tail, black bill, and pale 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.

Thayer's Gull

Thayer's Gull: Large gull, gray upperparts, white head, tail, underparts. Bill is yellow with red spot near the end of the lower mandible. Wings are gray with white-spotted, dark gray tips. Legs are dark pink. Direct flight, strong, steady wing beats, soars on thermals or updrafts.

● Song: "kuc-kuc-kuc-kuc-kuckle-kuckle", "hiyak, hiyak, hiyak-hiyak"

● Foraging & Feeding: Thayer's Gull: Diet consists mostly of carrion and fish, but also eats bird eggs; forages by plunge diving or walking along shorelines.

● Breeding & nesting: Thayer's Gull: Two to three gray, green, or brown eggs are laid in a ground depression lined with mosses, grass, or lichens, and sheltered by rocks or shrubbery. Incubation ranges from 23 to 27 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Thayer's Gull: Herring Gull is larger, has yellow eyes with orange orbital ring, paler gray back, darker-tipped primaries, paler legs and feet, and heavier bill. Iceland Gull has paler gray back, usually yellow eyes, and translucent pale wing tips.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight with steady wing beats.

Thayer's Gull Breeding Adult Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Thayer's Gull: Nests on high rocky cliffs in the Arctic islands and north coast of Northwest Territories. In winter, usually found in bays, meadows, and beaches on the Pacific coast, from central British Columbia to the Baja Peninsula, but occasionally wanders east to the Great Lakes.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight38.4 Ounces

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

Thayer's Gull

Thayer's Gull

Flight Pattern