The glaucous gull ( Larus hyperboreus) is a large gull, the second-largest gull in the world. The genus name is from Latin larus, which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific name hyperboreus is Latin for "northern" from the Ancient Greek Huperboreoi people from the far north
Distribution
This gull breeds in
Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and winters south to shores of the
Holarctic. It is
bird migration, wintering from in the North
Atlantic Ocean and North
Pacific Oceans as far south as the
British Isles and northernmost states of the United States, also on the
Great Lakes. A few birds sometimes reach the southern USA and northern Mexico.
Description
This is a large and powerful gull, second-largest of all gull species and very pale in all plumage, with no black on either the wings or the tail. Adults are pale grey above, with a thick, yellow bill. Juveniles are very pale grey with a pink and black bill. This species is considerably larger, bulkier, and thicker-billed than the similar
Iceland gull, and can sometimes equal the size of the great black-backed gull, the oft-titled largest gull species. In some areas, glaucous gulls are about the same weight as great black-backed gulls or even heavier, and their maximum weight is greater.
[ They can weigh from , with the sexes previously reported to average in males and in females.][ At the colony on Coats Island in Canada, the gulls are nearly 15% heavier than some other known populations, with a mean weight in five males and in seven females. One other study claimed even higher weights for glaucous gulls, as on Wrangel Island, 9 males reportedly averaged and in six females, which if accurate, would make the glaucous gull the heaviest gull and shorebird in the world if not (as far as is known) the largest in length on average.][Dementiev, G. P. and N. A. Gladkov. (1951). Ptitsi Sovietskogo Soyuza Birds. Vol. 2. Israel, in 1968.]: Publishing House Sovietskaya Nauka, Moscow, USSR. [English translation by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem.][Weiser, Emily and H. Grant Gilchrist. (2012). Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)
]
DOI: 10.2173/bna.573 These gulls range from in length and can span , with some specimens possibly attaining , across the wings.[ Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the Beak is and the tarsus is .][ They take four years to reach maturity.
]
The call is a "laughing" cry similar to that of the herring gull, but deeper.
Subspecies
The four recognized subspecies are:
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| nominate, found from northern Europe to north-western Siberia |
| found from north-western Siberia to the Bering Sea - the largest subspecies, paler than hyperboreus with bright raspberry pink legs (possibly due to diet). |
| found from Alaska to north-west Canada - the smallest subspecies, with a darker mantle, shorter bill and longer wings than hyperboreus. First-year immature is generally darker and more strongly-marked than hyperboreus. |
found from north-central Canada to Greenland and Iceland - Averages slightly paler than hyperboreus. Olsen & Larsson (2003) in Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America consider it synonymous with nominate hyperboreus. |
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Ecology
This species of seagull breeds colonially or singly on coasts and cliffs, making a lined nest on the ground or cliff. Normally, two to four light brown eggs with dark brown splotches are laid.
These are omnivores like most Larus gulls, and they eat fish, insects, molluscs, starfish, offal, scraps, eggs, small birds, small mammals, and carrion, as well as seeds, berries, and grains.
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