Great Black-backed Gull

A large gull with several different plumages until reaching sexual maturity at four years of age. Adults have flesh colored legs and a darker gray back than the smaller Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. The brown, first-year bird has a very light colored head. Even immature birds can be distinguished from the related gull species by the heavier bill. Length: 68-79 cm.; weight: 1,435-2,272 g. Audio 2 (M. Oberle). Breeds in northeastern USA and southeastern Canada, and in Europe. Rare winter visitor to Puerto Rico (e.g., Arecibo River mouth, 24 Dec. 1999; Mona Island, 9 Dec. 1973; San Juan Harbor, 10 Oct. 1974; and from December 1999 through February 6, 2000, and 9 August 1999 at Mayagüez).

TAXONOMY: CHARADRIIFORMES; LARIDAE; Larinae

Adult - Photo: M. Donahue

References

Bent, A.C. 1921. Life histories of North American gulls and terns. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 113. (Reprinted by Dover Press, 1963).

Crochet, P. A., J. D. Lebreton, and F. Bonhomme. 2002. Systematics of large white-headed gulls: patterns of mitochondrial DNA variation in western European taxa. Auk 119(3):603-620.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY.

Good, T. 1998. Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) No. 330 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Grant, P.J. 1997. Gulls: a guide to identification, 2^nd Ed. Academic Press, NY.

Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Harrison, P. 1987. A field guide to seabirds of the world. Stephen Greene Press, Lexington, MA.

Pérez-Rivera, R. A. 1987. Additional records and notes on migratory water birds in Puerto Rico, West Indies. Carib. J. Sci. 23:368-372.

Raffaele, H. A. 1981. New records of bird species for Puerto Rico and one for the West Indies. Am Birds 35:142-143.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

http://www.martinreid.com/gullinx.htm

Great Black-backed Gull, Spanish text

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