gull

A common sight around the coasts of Europe, gulls nest in colonies, laying 2–3 eggs in a simple scrape on the ground.

The great black-backed gull (seen nesting here) is found in Atlantic regions and is the largest of the gulls. It can reach a length of 75 cm/2.5 ft, and has a wingspread of 1.6 m/63 in. After the young are hatched, it takes four years before they gain all the markings of maturity.

The herring gull, Larus argentatus, is a common sight in English seaside towns. An infamous scavenger, it is now regarded as a nuisance in many coastal resorts. The herring gull can be distinguished from the common gull, which it closely resembles, by its larger size and slower, lazier wingbeats.

Herring gulls can often be sighted hanging in the wind above the sea, sometimes in loose, informal flocks. These omnivorous birds live on fish and offal, and on the eggs and young of other birds. But increasingly they are found in large numbers scavenging in rubbish tips, and are regarded as a potential carrier of disease.

Any of a group of seabirds that are usually 25–75 cm/10–30 in long, white with grey or black on the back and wings, and have large beaks. Immature birds are normally a mottled brown colour. Gulls are sociable, noisy birds and they breed in colonies. (Genus principally Larus, subfamily Larinae, family Laridae, order Charadriiformes.)

The common black-headed gull (L. ridibundus), common on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, is grey and white with (in summer) a dark-brown head and a red beak; it breeds in large colonies on wetlands, making a nest of dead rushes and laying, on average, three eggs. The great black-headed gull (L. ichthyaetus) is native to Asia. The herring gull (L. argentatus), common in the northern hemisphere, has white and pearl-grey plumage and a yellow beak. The oceanic great black-backed gull (L. marinus), found in the Atlantic, is over 75 cm/2.5 ft long.

The kelp gull or Southern black-backed gull (L. dominicanus) is common throughout the southern hemisphere. It feeds mainly on limpets, which are swallowed whole, with the shell later spat out and left in a heap around the nest area.