Fieldmarks: Large gull with head-to-tail
length of 56-66 cm (22-26 in). Plumage varies with age and season.
Large bill, flesh colored legs. Adults have a yellow bill with a red
spot near the tip of the mandible. Occurrence: Occurs mostly along beach-fronts, around
marinas, and at land fills. In West Indies, typically present as local
vagrant September through May. Fairly common in Gulf of Mexico and
Bermuda. Uncommon in The Bahamas, Cuba, and Cayman Islands. Rare
elsewhere in the Antilles and quite rare in the Lesser Antilles.
Species is increasing in population size and its wintering range is
expanding.
Natural History:
Nests in the northern latitutes of North America, Europe, and Asia. Ten
subspecies recognized but individuals in the Gulf of Mexico and
Caribbean are of the North American variety. Range expanding and in
eastern North America, the species now breeds as far south as North
Carolina. Some individuals retain aspects of sub-adult plumage into
their fourth summer.
West
Indian Breeding Seabird Atlas by Will
Mackin and David Lee is licensed
under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License. Based on
work at www.wicbirds.net.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.wicbirds.net.
Suggested
Citation: Lee, D. S., W. A. Mackin. 2012. Herring Gull. West Indian
Breeding Seabird Atlas
<http://www.wicbirds.net/hegu.html>. Last Updated: _____.
Date accessed: ______.
