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Great Black-backed Gull
Larus marinus
Audubon Illustration
John James Audubon, Birds of America (1827-1838). Public domain.
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About the Great Black-backed Gull
The great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) is the largest member of the gull and tern family Laridae. It is a very aggressive hunter, pirate and scavenger which breeds on the North Atlantic coasts and islands of northern Europe and northeastern North America. Southern populations are generally sedentary, while those breeding in the far north (northern Norway, northwest Russia) migrate farther south in winter. A few also move inland to large lakes and reservoirs. The adult has a white head, neck and underparts, dark blackish-grey wings and back, pink legs and the bill yellow with a red spot.
Source: Wikipedia
Classification
- Scientific name
- Larus marinus
- Family
- Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
- Order
- Charadriiformes
Similar species
Other members of the gulls, terns, and skimmers family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.
- Aleutian Tern Onychoprion aleuticus
- American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus
- Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
- Belcher's Gull Larus belcheri
- Black Noddy Anous minutus
- Black Skimmer Rynchops niger
- Black Tern Chlidonias niger
- Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
- Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
- Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris
- Blue-billed White-Tern Gygis candida
- Blue-gray Noddy Anous ceruleus
Know when the Great Black-backed Gull turns up near you
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Optics
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