A medium-sized gull common in western US.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The California gull is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull, but larger on average than the ring-billed gull. Although named after California, it can be found annually across most of western North America, from the Canadian prairie provinces in the northeast and south through western Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia — California gull Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Medium gull with a rounded head, dark eye, yellow-green legs, and a yellow bill marked with both a red and a black spot near the tip. Gray back, white head (streaked in winter).
Similar species. Ring-billed Gull is smaller with a pale eye, a complete black bill ring, and yellow legs; Herring Gull is larger with pink legs and a pale eye.
Voice. A long-call series of laughing notes, lower-pitched than Ring-billed.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Omnivorous: fish, invertebrates, scavenged food, eggs.
Behavior. A medium gull famous for saving Utah's 1848 crops by devouring a locust plague (the Utah state bird). Omnivorous; nests at inland western lakes and winters on the Pacific coast.
§ Range
Western North America
§ Habitat
Lakes, coasts, dumps
§ Threats
Habitat loss, pollution.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the california gull is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Reduce trash. Support clean lakes.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — California gull
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Larus californicus
- IUCN Red List — search for Larus californicus
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Larus californicus
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
