Species: Larus argentatus

Herring Gull

Species

Birds

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Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae

Genus

Larus

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105038

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Gaviota Plateada - goéland argenté

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Laridae - Larus - (Snell 1991a). See Wilds (1992) for a brief discussion of the taxonomy of the herring gull complex.

Ecology and Life History

Migration

true - true - true - Migrates north to northern breeding areas, arriving April-May (Bent 1921). Nonbreeders may not migrate. Migrants reach Costa Rica (mainly 1st and 2nd year birds) early November, most depart by mid-May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Feeds opportunistically mostly on various animals and garbage. Often a scavenger around bays and harbors. In Ohio, Belant et al. (1993) found that nearby landfills were unimportant as a food source to a nesting population; diet of adults and young was dominated by fishes.

Reproduction Comments

Lays clutch of 2-3 eggs, mostly May-June in U.S. Incubation 25-33 days, mostly by female. Young tended by both parents, first fly at about. 6-7 weeks. Attains adult plumage in 4 years. May form female-female pairs. Nests usually in colonies.

Ecology Comments

Fox predation may result in reproductive failure of local breeding colonies (Southern et al. 1985).

Length

Weight

1226

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-27

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-27

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: northern Alaska across northern Canada (including southern Baffin Island) to northern Labrador, south to British Columbia, central Saskatchewan, northern Wisconsin, northern Ohio, and northern New York, and along coast to North Carolina or South Carolina. NON-BREEDING: Aleutians, Great Lakes, and Newfoundland south to Panama (increasingly regular in southern Central America), West Indies; occasional to frequent in Hawaii. Nonbreeders widespread in summer throughout range. Also occurs in Old World.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105038