Divorce of mated pairs does occur, but it apparently has a social cost that persists for a number of years after the break-up. The black spot is not causing anything to his vision. Both parents care for the young until it can fly. [13], Gulls that are known to reside in areas where there is a season of plentiful mice have, over the centuries, developed a specialized method of eating them. Within colonies, birds synchronise their laying, with synchronisation being higher in larger colonies, although after a certain point, this levels off. Red legs. Biologists who first observed this habit observed it between mating pairs of gulls. [13], The general pattern of plumage in adult gulls is a white body with a darker mantle; the extent to which the mantle is darker varies from pale grey to black. They are most closely related to the terns (family Sternidae) and only distantly related to auks, skimmers and even more distantly to waders. The male is a little bigger than the female, which is common among Charadriiformes. Gulls begin to assemble around the colony for a few weeks prior to occupying the colony. [13] In coastal towns, many gulls nest on rooftops and can be observed by nearby human residents. Icelandic birds have also been observed in Southwest Greenland and Newfoundland. Often seen in flight.

Indeed, they are the least specialised of all the seabirds, and their morphology allows for equal adeptness in swimming, flying, and walking. Gulls on the wing also snatch items both off water and off the ground, and over water they also plunge-dive to catch prey.

In shallow water gulls may also engage in foot paddling. Breeds near water in the boreal forest; the only gull that makes a stick nest. Gull nests are usually mats of herbaceous matter with a central nest cup.

The eggs are olive green with dark spots and weigh about 1.4 oz each. [13] Examples of such associations include four species of gulls feeding around plumes of mud brought to the surface by feeding grey whales,[18] and also between orcas (largest dolphin species) and kelp gulls (and other seabirds). Often seen in flight. A few species vary in this, the ivory gull is entirely white, and some like the lava gull and Heermann's gull have partly or entirely grey bodies. The Latin name of the black-headed gull means „the laughing gull“ as his sounds resemble laughter. The population grew fast and was estimated 25000-30000 breeding pairs in 1990. A fossil gull from the Middle to Late Miocene of Cherry County, Nebraska, USA is placed in the prehistoric genus Gaviota;[28] apart from this and the undescribed Early Oligocene fossil, all prehistoric species were tentatively assigned to the modern genus Larus. The black-headed gull has been spotted stealing eggs and youngs of many small bird species and eating berries in the fall. [citation needed], Gulls have only a limited ability to dive below the water to feed on deeper prey. They lay two or three speckled eggs in nests composed of vegetation. To obtain prey from deeper down, many species of gulls feed in association with other animals, where marine hunters drive prey to the surface when hunting. They have pale feet and a brown beak. The population size today is unknown, but it has fluctuated greatly from 1990 but is still considered big. Nonbreeding adult. They breed on every continent, including the margins of Antarctica, and are found in the high Arctic, as well. Three gull-like species were described by Alphonse Milne-Edwards from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France. [24] In common usage, gull-like seabirds that are not technically gulls (e.g. Dipping is also common when birds are sitting on the water, and gulls may swim in tight circles or foot paddle to bring marine invertebrates up to the surface. [10] Many species of gulls have learned to coexist successfully with humans and have thrived in human habitats.

Immatures also show white primaries with blackish-brown markings on the upperwing. [13], Most gull species are migratory, with birds moving to warmer habitats during the winter, but the extent to which they migrate varies by species. It has a strong direct flight with deep wing beats. [14], Gulls are highly adaptable feeders that opportunistically take a wide range of prey. Clutch size is typically three eggs, although it is two in some of the smaller species and only one egg for the swallow-tailed gull. In winter plumage, the black-headed gull resembles a juvenile but has a dark spot behind the eye. [13], The gulls have a worldwide cosmopolitan distribution. [13], The gulls are generalist feeders. Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on the whale as it surfaces to peck out pieces of flesh. Live food often includes crabs and small fish. This means the first two chicks are born close together, and the third chick some time later. Some have traditionally been considered ring species, but recent evidence suggests that this assumption is questionable. The black-headed gull most often nests in wetlands or close to lakes and the sea. Take Merlin with you in the field! [11] Others rely on kleptoparasitism to get their food. In winter plumage, the black-headed gull resembles a juvenile but has a dark spot behind the eye. [1] An older name for gulls is mews, which is cognate with German Möwe, Danish måge, Swedish mås, Dutch meeuw, and French mouette, and can still be found in certain regional dialects. However, in its first summer it has brown markings on its wings. Feeds on small fish, invertebrates, and insects, often picking them off the surface in flight. Within colonies, gull pairs are territorial, defending an area of varying size around the nesting site from others of their species. Not noticable at all except by an eye doctor. ", Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, "A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny", Vega gull (or East Siberian gull / Mongolian gull), Great black-headed gull (or Pallas's gull), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gull&oldid=986255586, CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Red legs. For example, many gull colonies display mobbing behavior, attacking and harassing predators and other intruders. Among those of them that have been confirmed as gulls, Milne-Edwards' "Larus" elegans and "L." totanoides from the Late Oligocene/Early Miocene of southeast France have since been separated in Laricola. Eye floaters can usually be seen when looking at plain, light-colored backgrounds (such as a wall or the sky) and may appear black, gray, white, or “see through.” Why Do I See Eye Floaters? Learn more about Icelandic birds in our article section, See more in the Handbook of the Birds of the World, Learn more on the Natural History of Iceland Site, Author: Dr. Þórður Örn Kristjánsson The black-headed gull is 15-17 in long with a 37-41 in wingspan and weighs about 11 oz. Although it has the name ‘Black-headed’, its head is actually a dark chocolate brown colour in the summer and in winter its head is mainly white with only a dark spot behind each eye. The black-headed gull is found all-around Iceland and is often spotted near the seashore and in harbors but is also found in cultivated areas in the lowlands. A young black-headed gull becomes mature and gets its hood two years old. The nest is a pile of dry vegetation and feathers where the bird lays 2-3 eggs. Both parents feed the chicks, although early on in the rearing period, the male does most of the feeding and the female most of the brooding and guarding.[13]. Both these species have a characteristic dark hood, which can confuse amateur bird watchers. For other uses, see, CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2020 (, Miller, A. H. and Sibley (1941) described, "Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913", The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 10.1675/1524-4695(2006)29[233:TICABB]2.0.CO;2, "The development of shell-cracking behavior in herring gulls", "The Association of Marine Birds and Feeding Gray Whales", "The herring gull complex is not a ring species", "Are sea gulls actually called sea gulls or is there another name for them?

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