Overview
This versatile bird is capable of feeding on foot , on the wing, while swimming, or by diving. Large species of gulls are important hunters of the treeless Arctic plains , feeding on small mammals and birds, chicks, and eggs .
Common Names
Click on the language to view common names.
Common Names in Czech:
Racek Mormonský
Common Names in Danish:
Canadisk Måge
Common Names in Dutch:
Californische Meeuw
Common Names in English:
California Gull, Californian Gull
Common Names in Estonian:
Järvekajakas
Common Names in Finnish:
Preerialokki
Common Names in French:
Goèland De Californie, Goéland De Californie, Goéland De Californie
Common Names in German:
Indianermöwe, Kaliforniermöwe, Kaliforniermöwe
Common Names in Italian:
Gabbiano Della California
Common Names in Japanese:
カリフォルニアカモメ, Kariforuniakamome
Common Names in Latin:
Larus californicus
Common Names in Norwegian:
Præriegråmåke
Common Names in Polish:
Mewa Kalifornijska
Common Names in Slovak:
Cajka Plavokrídla
Common Names in Spanish:
Gaviota Californiana
Common Names in Spanish (Mexico):
Gaviota Californiana
Common Names in Swedish:
Prärietrut
Description
Physical Description
Adult : Head : white Bill: yellow with red and yellow spot on lower mandible Lower Mandible: red and black spot Neck: white Body: Breast: white Underparts: white Legs : Foot Color: greenish-yellow to gray-green Leg Color: greenish-yellow to gray-green Tail: white.
Color:
Adult
alternate: Bright yellow bill with complete
black ring
distal to red spot at gonys · Bright yellow legs
· Brown eye · White head
, neck, breast, and belly · Gray back and upperwings · White tertial crescent · Black primaries with white tips
and two white mirrors on outer primaries
Adult basic: Like adult alternate but blurry brown streaking
and spotting on head and nape
Juvenile/First-year: Black bill quickly developing pale
pink base
· Wholly brown body plumage · Dark brown primaries · Dark brown secondaries and greater secondary coverts appears as double
dark bar
on trailing edge of wing in flight · Black legs quickly become pink · Dark outer primaries · Dark tail · Pale rump marked
with bark
bars and appears dark
Second-year: Green-yellow bill with black tip · Pale head, neck, upper breast, and belly with brown streaking · Dull
brown upperwing coverts · Dark brown primaries and tail · Gray back · White tail with dark terminal
band
Third-year: Like adult basic, but often lacks adult bill pattern
, wing pattern, and often retains a partial tail band
Size/Age/Growth
About 21 to 22 inches long, with a wingspan of 48 to 54 inches. Adults weigh about 22.4 ounces .
Habitat
Vegetation: freshwater marshes, coastal waters, coastal sand beaches and mudflats, arid lowland scrubs, pastures and agricultural lands, freshwater lakes and ponds • Maximum Elevation: 1,600 meters • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Low
Biology
Diet
Mostly: Insects Aquatic Invertebrates Fish Carrion
Reproduction
- Breeding Habitat : Wetland-open water
- Clutch Size: 1-3
- Length of Incubation : 25(23-27) days
- Days to Fledge : 45
- Number of Broods: 1
Migration
Migratory
Taxonomy
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
)
- animals
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Chordates
- Class:
Aves
()
- Birds
- Order:
Ciconiiformes
()
- Albatrosses, Alcids
- Order:
Ciconiiformes
(
- Class:
Aves
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001.
Similar Species
Ring-Billed Gull, Herring Gull
Members of the genus Larus
There are approximately 173 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:
L. alba · L. argentatus (Herring Gull) · L. argentatus antelius · L. argentatus argentatus (Herring Gull) · L. argentatus argenteus · L. argentatus atlantis · L. argentatus birulae · L. argentatus cachinnans · L. argentatus drosti · L. argentatus heuglini · L. argentatus michahellis · L. argentatus mongolicus · L. argentatus omissus · L. argentatus smithsonianus · L. argentatus thayeri · L. argentatus vegae · L. armenicus (Armenian Gull) · L. atlanticus (OlrogÃŒs Gull) · L. atricilla (Laughing Gull) · L. atricilla atricilla (Laughing Gull) · L. atricilla megalopterus · L. audouini · L. audouinii (AudouinÃŒs Gull) · L. azarae · L. belcheri (Band-Tailed Gull) · L. belcheri atlanticus · L. belcheri belcheri (Band-Tailed Gull) · L. borealis · L. brachyrhynchus (Mew Gull) · L. brevirostris (Red-Legged Kittiwake) · L. bridgesii · L. brunneicephalus · L. brunnicephalus (Indian Black-Headed Gull) · L. bulleri (Black-Billed Gull) · L. cachin · L. cachinans · L. cachinnans (Yellow-Legged Gull) · L. cachinnans atlantis · L. cachinnans barabensis · L. cachinnans cachinnans · L. cachinnans michahellis · L. cachinnans mongolicus · L. californicus (Californian Gull) · L. californicus albertaensis (Light-Mantled California Gull) · L. californicus californicus (Dark-Mantled California Gull) · L. canus (Common Kamchatka Gull) · L. canus brachyrhynchus (Mew Gull) · L. canus canus (Common Kamchatka Gull) · L. canus heinei (Mew Gull) · L. canus kamtschatschensis (Eastern Common Gull) · L. canus stegmanni · L. capensis · L. capistratus · L. cirrhocephalus · L. cirrocephalus (Grey-Headed Gull) · L. cirrocephalus cirrocephalus (Gray-Hooded Gull) · L. cirrocephalus poicephalus · L. cirrocephalus poiocephalus · L. crassirostris (Black-Tailed Gull) · L. delawarensis (Ring-Billed Gull) · L. delewarensis · L. dominicanus (Southern Black-Backed Gull) · L. dominicanus austrinus · L. dominicanus dominicanus (Southern Black-Backed Gull) · L. dominicanus judithae · L. dominicanus melisandae · L. dominicanus vetula · L. eburnea (Ivory Gull) · L. eburneus · L. elegans · L. fuliginosus (Dusky Gull) · L. furcatus (Swallow-Tailed Gull) · L. fuscus (Lesser Black-Backed Gull) · L. fuscus fuscus (Lesser Black-Backed Gull) · L. fuscus graellsi · L. fuscus graellsii (Lesser Black-Backed Gull) · L. fuscus heuglini · L. fuscus intermedius · L. gelastes · L. genei (Slender-Billed Gull) · L. glaucescens (Glaucous-Winged Gull) · L. glaucescens occidentalis · L. glaucescens x · L. glaucoides (White-Winged Gull) · L. glaucoides glaucoides (White-Winged Gull) · L. glaucoides kumlieni (Kumlien's Gull) · L. glaucoides thayeri (Iceland Gull) · L. glaucus · L. graellsii · L. haematorhynchus · L. hartlaubi · L. hartlaubii (King Gull) · L. heermanni (White-Headed Gull) · L. heermannii · L. hemprichi · L. hemprichii (Sooty Gull) · L. hermanni · L. heuglini · L. heuglini heuglini · L. hybrid
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- A check list of North American birds. Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1882. ENG url p. 121.
- A first book upon the birds of Oregon and Washington: a pocket guide and pupil's assistant in a study of the more common land birds and a few of the shore and water birds of these states / by William Rogers Lord. Portland, Or.: William Rogers Lod, Office of the J.K. Gill Co., 1902 ENG url p. 269.
- A geographic classification of Neotropical mammals. [Chicago]Chicago Natural History Museum, 1958. ENG url p. 632.
- A manual of North American birds. By Robert Ridgway. Illustrated by 464 outline drawings of the generic characters. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1887. ENG url p. 31.
- A systematic list of the birds of California / by Joseph Grinnell. Hollywood: Cooper Ornithological Club, 1912. ENG url p. 12.
- Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
- Animal life in the Yosemite; an account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross-section of the Sierra Nevada, by Joseph Grinnell and Tracy Irwin Storer Berkeley, Calif., University of California Press, 1924. ENG url p. 248, p. 746.
- Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. ENG url p. 430, p. 574.
- Archiv für Naturgeschichte. Berlin: Nicolai, 1835- GER url p. 132, p. 152, p. 205, p. 32.
- Asteroid notes. Northfield, Minn, Goodsell Observatory of Carleton College, 1934-1950. ENG url p. 217.
- Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
- BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
- BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
- Birds in Kansas / Max C. Thompson and Charles Ely. Lawrence, Kan.: University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History: c1989- ENG url p. 288.
- Birds of America; editor-in-chief, T. Gilbert Pearson; consulting editor, John Burroughs; artists, R.I. Brasher, R. Bruce Horsfall [and] Henry Thurston. New York, The University Society, 1923. ENG url p. 45.
- Birds of the Northwest: a hand-book of the ornithology of the region drained by the Missouri River and its tributaries / by Elliott Coues. Washington: Govt. Print. Off., 1874. ENG url p. 634, p. 635.
- Birds of the Rockies, by Leander S. Keyser... with eight full-page plates [four in color] by Louis Agassiz Fuertes; many illustrations in the text by Bruce Horsfall, and eight views of localities from photographs; with a c Chicago, A. C. McClurg and co., 1902. ENG url p. 309.
- Birds. With the co-operation of John Cassin and George N. Lawrence. Washington, D.C., 1858. ENG url p. 846.
- Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 105, p. 124, p. 124, p. 262, p. 46, p. 584, p. 618, p. 620, p. 622, p. 63, p. 74, p. 74.
- Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, ENG url p. 116, p. 153.
- Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club. Cambridge, Mass.: The Club, [1876-1883] ENG url p. 186, p. 199.
- Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History. Charles E. Hellmayr, Boardman Conover. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1948. ENG url p. 266.
- Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. London, 1874-98. ENG url p. 276.
- Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum / By E. W. Oates [and afterwards] by S. G. Reid [and] W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. London, 1901-12. ENG url p. 217.
- Check-list and bibliography on the occurrence of insects in birds' nests. Ames, Iowa State College Press[1959] ENG url p. 370.
- Color key to North American birds, with bibliographical appendix, by Frank M. Chapman with upwards of 800 drawings, by Chester A. Reed, B.S. New York, D. Appleton and Company, 1912. ENG url p. 55.
- Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
- FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. ENG url p. 25.
- Great Basin naturalist memoirs. [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. ENG url p. 153.
- Handbook of birds of the western United States, including the great plains, great basin, Pacific slope, and lower Rio Grande valley, by Florence Merriam Bailey, with thirty-three full-page plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and over six hundred cuts in the Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1904. ENG url p. 44, p. 48.
- History of the birds of Kansas. By N. S. Goss. Illustrating 529 birds. Topeka, Kan., G. W. Crane, 1891. ENG url p. 21.
- Ibis. [London]Published for the British Ornithologists' Union by Academic Press. ENG url p. 152, p. 266.
- Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zo©logy, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge [Mass.]: The Museum, 1876-1938. ENG url p. 241.
- Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas, 1946-1996. ENG url p. 27.
- Naturalist's guide to the Americas, prepared by the Committee on the Preservation of Natural Conditions of the Ecological Society of America, with assistance from numerous organizations and individuals, assembled and edited by chairman, Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, 1926. ENG url p. 747.
- Pacific coast avifauna / Cooper Ornithological Club of California. Santa Clara, Calif.: The Club, 1900-1974. ENG url p. 112, p. 12, p. 14, p. 27, p. 9.
- Point Lobos Reseerve; State Park, California. Interpretation of a primitive landscape. Sacramento, [State Print. Off., 1954] ENG url p. 95.
- Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. [Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia] ENG url p. 30, p. 60.
- Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. ENG url p. 275, p. 279, p. 508, p. 780.
- Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 179, p. 36, p. 382, p. 418, p. 448, p. 503.
- Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)
- Sex and internal secretions. Contributors: A. Albert [and others] Foreword by George W. Corner. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, 1961. ENG url p. 1101, p. 1359, p. 1555.
- Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. ENG url p. 18, p. 207, p. 448.
- Social feeding behavior of birds. [Chicago]Chicago Natural History Museum, 1954. ENG url p. 39.
- The Biological bulletin. Woods Hole, Mass.: Marine Biological Laboratory, ENG url p. 649.
- The Cambridge natural history, ed. by S.F. Harmer and A.E. Shipley [London, Macmillan and co., limited;1895-1909] ENG url p. 611.
- The Great Basin naturalist. Provo, Utah, M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University. ENG url p. 123, p. 133, p. 3, p. 317, p. 339, p. 342, p. 344, p. 363, p. 519, p. 57, p. 58, p. 592, p. 93.
- The Ottawa naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. ENG url p. 140, p. 82.
- The Popular science monthly. [New York, Popular Science Pub. Co., etc.] ENG url p. 215.
- The University of Kansas science bulletin. [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. ENG url p. 139.
- The birds of Wyoming, with an explanation of recent changes in their distribution; economic aspect also considered. By B. H. Grave and Ernest P. Walker. [Laramie]University of Wyoming, 1913. ENG url p. 25.
- The code of nomenclature and check-list of North American birds adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union; being the report of the Committee of the Union on Classification and Nomenclature. New York, 1886. ENG url p. 89.
- The natural history review. Dublin: Hodges and Smith, 1854-1865. ENG url p. 289.
- The ornithology of Illinois / [by Robert Ridgway and S.A. Forbes]. Springfield, Ill., H.W. Rokker, printer, 1889-1895. ENG url p. 232.
- Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. Topeka, Kan.: W.Y. Morgan, 1903- ENG url p. 165, p. 253.
- Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History. [San Diego]: The Society, 1905- ENG url p. 134, p. 17, p. 181, p. 290, p. 326, p. 333, p. 410.
- Trematodes of the Pacific Northwest, an annotated catalog [by] Ivan Pratt [and] James E. McCauley. Corvallis, Oregon State University Press[1961] ENG url p. 76.
- University of Kansas publications, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas. ENG url p. 202, p. 327, p. 342.
- Zoe: a biological journal. San Francisco. ENG url p. 136.
Notes
Contributors
- BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
- BirdLife International 2004. Larus californicus. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 21 October 2006.
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 21, 2007.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 04, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 11 providers.
- Hines, J. E., Gregory Gough, J. R. Sauer, et al. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
- Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, and quot;Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds, and quot; in Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, by D.F. Stotz, T.A. Parker III, J.W. Fitzpatrick, and D.K. Moskovits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-64676-9.
- Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.
- Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
- Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 04, 2008:
- Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
- Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
- Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
- Bird Studies Canada: BC Coastal Waterbird Survey
- Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: North West Territories and Nunavut Bird Checklist, Canada
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Ontario Nest Records
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds (Aves)
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal British Columbia Museum
- Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
- Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: SEAMAP - marine mammals, birds and turtles
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
- Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
- UCLA-Dickey Bird Collection (UCLA-Dickey): Bird specimens
- UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3851266
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-176829
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13816671
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 176829
- IUCN ID: 49217
- Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNNM03110
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 7576
