Great Black-backed Gull
| Great Black-backed Gull | |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Genus: | Larus |
| Species: | L. marinus |
| Binomial name | |
| Larus marinus Linnaeus, 1758 |
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| Distribution across the Northern Hemisphere | |
The Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) is the largest gull in the world, which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic. It is fairly sedentary, but some Great Black-backed Gulls move farther south or inland to large lakes or reservoirs.
The Great Black-backed Gull was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name of Larus marinus.[1]
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[edit] Description
This is the largest gull, bigger than a Herring Gull. It is 68–79 cm (27–31 in) long with a 1.52–1.67 m (4 ft 12 in–5 ft 6 in) wingspan and a body weight of 1.4–2.3 kg (3.1–5.1 lb), though large males may exceed this weight.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag; see the help page Chicks and eggs are preyed on by crows, cats, other gulls, storks, raccoons and rats. The Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, and White-tailed Eagle are the only birds that take healthy, fully grown Great Black-backed Gulls. Killer whales and sharks also prey upon adult birds.
The maximum recorded age for a wild Great Black-backed Gull is 27.1 years.[2]
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[edit] Gallery
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Great Black-backed Gull has a bulky, powerful beak
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Great Black-backed Gulls displaying
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Juvenile, Cape May Point, New Jersey
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Great Black-backed Gull nest and eggs
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Chicks
[edit] See also
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Kelp Gull (Southern Black-backed Gull)
[edit] References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Larus marinus |
- ^ (Latin) Linnaeus, C (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii)..
- ^ http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Larus_marinus
- BirdLife International (2004). Larus marinus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- National Geographic. Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
- Harrison, Peter. Seabirds, ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
- del Hoyo, Josep (Ed.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 3, ISBN 84-87334-10-5
- Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Birds, National Audubon Society, ISBN 0-679-45122-6
- Malling Olsen, Klaus & Larsson, Hans. Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America, ISBN 0-7136-7087-8
