Lesser black-backed gull

    Larus fuscus

Castilian: Gaviota sombría

Catalan: Gavià fosca

Gallego: Gaivota escura

Euskera: Kaio iluna

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Charadriiformes

Family: Laridae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Least Concern”.

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THREATS

This gull is not threatened; in fact, it is currently expanding in both Spain and the rest of the world.

Length / size: 49-57 cm / 118-150 cm

Identification: Large gull with yellow legs and bill, as well as yellow eyes surrounded by a red eye-ring. Its plumage is an intense dark grey colour on its back and white on its underparts.

Song: It makes a nasal, long, and noisy "aw aw kwawk kwawk" call.

Diet: It is omnivorous and feeds on a wide variety of vertebrates, invertebrates, plant matter and scraps.

Reproduction: It breeds in colonies with other species of large gulls. Both adults build the nest, which is a mound made of grass, algae and other plant matter, and they both incubate. The chicks move about the surrounding area shortly after being born.

HABITAT

It occupies flat, vast areas, with large bodies of free water, such as beaches and highlands near the coast.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is distributed in certain places along the Cantabrian and Atlantic coasts, the Ebro Delta, and the islets of Alegranza and Montaña Clara (Canary Islands), together with large flocks of yellow-legged gulls. In winter, it appears on the coast as well as inland.

In Castile and León: It is distributed throughout all the provinces.

Movements and migrations: In most of its distribution area, it behaves as a migratory species, travelling to its habitual wintering areas in the south. The subspecies fuscus moves to the Black and Caspian Seas, Turkey, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, and areas in eastern and southern Africa.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 480-500 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: