Western Gull
Larus occidentalis

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Larus

Audio for Species

Call
Song

from Macaulay Library

Species Related Links

Additional Western Gull Pictures

Description

Length: 22-26 in (56-66 cm) Weight: 28.2-44.1 oz (800-1250 g) Wingspan: 47.2-56.7 in (120-144 cm)

The adult head and underparts are white; the back and upperwings are dark gray. The primaries are black with white tips, and the tail is white. The legs are pink. The bill is yellow with a red spot near the front of the lower bill. Its eyes are yellow. Their basic plumage has faint brown streaking on the head.

The first year juvenile has brown plumage, with a black bill They have black legs that turn pink. The second year the bill is pinkish with a black tip. The back is dark gray, and thehead, neck, upper breast and belly are pale.

Habitat, Range, and Feeding

They breed habitat is rocky islands and they roost in dumps, compost farms and fields, and in parking lots. They nest in colonies, and they scrape the ground to make a shallow depression, which is filled with weeds, grass, roots, string or rope, feathers, and seaweed. The clutch size is 1 to 4 eggs, that are gray-green or olive, or even raw sienna with dark spots.

Their diet consists of fish, garbage, carrion, other young and adult seabirds, eggs, and marine invertebrates.