Seagulls belong to the bird family Laridae. Of the approximately 50 species, only a few limit their range to sea coasts. Many birds have taken to landfills, fields, or malls where food and water are plentiful.
Description of the seagull
Ornithologists identify varieties of gulls according to:
Determining whether a young gull belongs to the species of gulls is difficult, as they have different colors and feather patterns than adult relatives. As a rule, young animals show beige shades with an admixture of gray. It takes two to four years for gulls to grow feathers that are white, gray, or black as an adult.
Paw color is another useful gull identification tool. Large birds with pink paws and feet. Medium birds have yellow limbs. Smaller gulls with red or black paws.
Seagull species that live far from Eurasia
Galapagos gull
Mongolian gull
Delaware gull
gray-winged gull
California gull
western gull
franklin’s gull
Aztec gull
Armenian (Sevan herring) gull
Thayer’s seagull
dominican gull
Pacific gull
The most common species of gulls in Eurasia
Lake seagull
A small white gull with a partially dark head, white crescents above/below the eyes, and a white-grey back. red beak. The tips and bases of the wing feathers are black. The floors are similar. Non-breeding adults lack the black mark behind the eye and the black tip on the bill. Juveniles are similar to adult birds in winter plumage, but they have darker wings and black-tipped tails.
Little Gull
The smallest bird of the family, with a pale gray upper body and white nape, neck, chest, belly and tail. Head to top of neck black. Dark underwings. Beak dark red with black tip. Paws and feet red-orange. The bird flies quickly, making deep flapping wings.
mediterranean gull
Large white gull with light gray feathers on the upper body, a red spot on the bright yellow beak, paws and feet are yellow. The tail is white. Wanders along the coast in search of food or performs shallow dive behind food, steals products from people or collects on garbage dumps. Flying with strong wing beats. Sometimes freezes using air currents.
black-headed gull
The world’s largest seagull. White head, black top, white underbody, large yellow bill with a red spot on the lower half, pale eyes with a red orbital ring, pink paws, feet. Flight is powerful with deep, slow wing beats.
sea dove
The seagull is given a unique shape:
In the plumage during the breeding season, pronounced pink spots appear on the lower parts of the body. This species lived on the Black Sea coast, but migrated to the western Mediterranean in the 1960s.
herring gull
This is a big seagull with:
The beak is yellow with a red spot near the tip, paws are pink. The diet includes:
The flight is strong, makes deep flapping wings, soars on thermal and ascending currents. Males are larger than females, sexes have similar plumage.
Broody
Medium sized gull with dark gray back and wings. Head, neck and underparts, chest and tail are white. The beak is yellow with a red spot near the tip. Wings have dark tips with white spots, paws and feet are yellow. Eyes yellow with red orbital rings.
Steppe gull (Gull)
Large stocky bird with pale gray upper and white underparts. The head is black and looks crested. The large beak is coral red, the undersides of the flight wings are grey, the short white tail is slightly forked, and the feet are black. The flight is swift, swift and graceful. Soars above the water before diving. Feeds mainly on fish. The floors are similar.
polar gull
Large, white gull with a pale, pearl gray back and wings. The beak is yellow with a red spot at the tip of the lower part. Wing tips pale to dark gray. The tail is white, paws and feet are pink. Flying with strong deep wing beats.
sea gull
The world’s largest seagull with:
In powerful flight, makes deep, slow wing beats.
gray gull
Birds have a white underbody, bluish-gray backs, wings with black tips. Paws and beaks are greenish-yellow. Irises are greyish brown surrounded by a red eye ring (mature birds) or dark brown with a brownish orange eye ring (young).
black-tailed gull
Big bird with:
Fork-tailed gull
little bird with
The head near the beak is black, the ring around the eyes is dark red. The beak is black with a yellow tip, the paws and feet are black. Upper wings gray with black primary and white secondary feathers. Tail slightly forked when folded.
common kittiwake
Ivory gull of medium size, back and upper feathers of wings are pale gray, wingtips are black. The beak is yellow, paws and feet are black. Flies quickly, gracefully, alternating several quick short wing beats with soaring. Floats above the water before diving for prey on the surface. Feeds on marine invertebrates, plankton and fish. The floors look the same.
Red-legged kittiwake
A small white gull with a gray back and black-tipped wings, a small yellow beak and bright red feet. Feeds on small fish, squid and marine zooplankton.
