Larus cirrocephalus

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Habitat

Vegetation: freshwater marshes, saltwater and brackish marshes, coastal sand beaches and mudflats • Maximum Elevation: 1,000 meters • Foraging Strata: Water • Center of Abundance: Lower subtropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; subtropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbance: Medium

Typically found in a lake at a mean distance from sea level of 285 meters (935 feet).[1]

Ecology: Behaviour Most populations of this species are sedentary , although inland breeders will disperse short distances to the coast in the non-breeding season1, 2. The species breeds colonially1, 2, 3, from April-May (before the rains) in Africa2, and from early-May in South America1. It remains fairly gregarious outside of the breeding season2, 7, and is typically observed in pairs or small groups of 3-8 individuals7, or feeding in large flocks in harbours and at refuse dumps2. Habitat Breeding During the breeding season the species inhabits tropical and subtropical coasts, rocky offshore islands1, 2, coastal dykes , coastal dunes1, estuaries1, 2, 3 and harbours (Africa)1, 3, as well as large inland fresh and alkaline lakes (Africa)1, rivers1, 2, salt-pans5 and marshes (Argentina)1, 2. Non-breeding Outside of the breeding season the species remains along the shores of coastal habitats1 (e.g. rocky offshore islands1, 2, coastal dykes, coastal dunes1 and estuaries1, 2, 3) but also frequents settlements , cattle pens and fishing harbours (in Africa)1. Diet Its diet consists predominantly of fish1, 3, as well as invertebrates1 (e.g. insects, molluscs and termites)3, the eggs of herons and cormorants1, and dead fish and refuse obtained by scavenging1. Breeding site The species breeds colonially, with nests often placed less than 1 m apart1. Nests are positioned on bare ground , in clumps of reeds and papyrus1 on islands3, or on floating vegetation1, 3, often camouflaged in tall, thick vegetation3. The nest itself varies from a shallow scrape to a well built cup of rushes and grasses1, 3 depending on location, although floating nests are always substantial3.

[2].

List of Habitats :

•     5     Wetlands (inland)   
  
•     5.1     Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls )   
  
•     5.4     Wetlands (inland) - Bogs , Marshes, Swamps , Fens , Peatlands   
  
•     5.5     Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)   
  
•     5.6     Wetlands (inland) - Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)   
  
•     5.14     Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes   
  
•     5.15     Wetlands (inland) - Seasonal/Intermittent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes and Flats   
  
•     9     Marine Neritic   
  
•     9.10     Marine Neritic - Estuaries   
  
•     12     Marine Intertidal   
  
•     12.1     Marine Intertidal - Rocky Shoreline   
  
•     12.2     Marine Intertidal - Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars , Spits , Etc   
  
•     12.3     Marine Intertidal - Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches   
  
•     12.6     Marine Intertidal - Tidepools   
  
•     13     Marine Coastal/Supratidal   
  
•     13.1     Marine Coastal/Supratidal - Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands   
  
•     13.3     Marine Coastal/Supratidal - Coastal Sand Dunes   
  
•     14     Artificial/Terrestrial   
  
•     14.4     Artificial/Terrestrial - Rural Gardens   
  
•     15     Artificial/Aquatic & Marine   
  
•     15.4     Artificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001

Similar Species

Members of the genus Larus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 83 species and subspecies in this genus:

L. argentatus (Herring Gull) · L. argentatus argentatus (Herring Gull) · L. armenicus (Armenian Gull) · L. atlanticus (OlrogÌs Gull) · L. atricilla (Laughing Gull) · L. atricilla atricilla (Laughing Gull) · L. audouinii (AudouinÌs Gull) · L. belcheri (Band Tailed Gull) · L. belcheri belcheri (Band-Tailed Gull) · L. brachyrhynchus (Mew Gull) · L. brevirostris (Red-Legged Kittiwake) · L. brunnicephalus (Indian Black-Headed Gull) · L. bulleri (Black-Billed Gull) · L. cachinnans (Caspian Gull) · L. californicus (Californian Gull) · L. californicus albertaensis (Light-Mantled California Gull) · L. californicus californicus (Dark-Mantled California Gull) · L. canus (Common Kamchatka Gull) · (Mew Gull) · L. canus canus (Mew Gull) · L. canus heinei (Mew Gull) · (Eastern Common Gull) · L. cirrocephalus (Grey-Hooded Gull) · L. cirrocephalus cirrocephalus (Gray-Headed Gull) · L. crassirostris (Black-Tailed Gull) · L. delawarensis (Ring-Bill Gull) · L. dominicanus (Southern Black-Backed Gull) · L. dominicanus dominicanus (Southern Black-Backed Gull) · L. eburnea (Ivory Gull) · L. fuliginosus (Dusky Gull) · L. furcatus (Swallow-Tailed Gull) · L. fuscus (Lesser Black-Backed Gull) · L. fuscus fuscus (Lesser Black-Backed Gull) · L. fuscus graellsii (Lesser Black-Backed Gull) · L. genei (Slender-Billed Gull) · L. glaucescens (Glaucous-Winged Gull) · L. glaucoides (White-Winged Gull) · L. glaucoides glaucoides (Iceland Gull) · L. glaucoides kumlieni (Iceland Gull) · L. glaucoides thayeri (Iceland Gull) · L. hartlaubii (Hartlaub's Gull) · (White-Headed Gull) · L. hemprichii (Hemprich's Gull) · L. hyperboreus (White-Winged Gull) · L. hyperboreus barrovianus (Glaucous Gull) · L. hyperboreus hyperboreus (Glaucous Gull) · L. ichthyaetus (Great Black-Headed Gull) · L. kumlieni (Kumlien's Gull) · L. leucophthalmus (White-Eyed Gull) · L. livens (Yellow-Footed Gull) · L. maculipennis (Brown-Hooded Gull) · L. marinus (Greater Black-Backed Gull) · L. melanocephalus (Mediterranean Gull) · L. michahellis (Yellow-Legged Gull) · L. minutus (Little Gull) · L. modestus (Grey Gull) · L. novaehollandiae (Silver Gull) · L. novaehollandiae novaehollandiae (Silver Gull) · L. occidentalis (Wyman's Gull) · L. occidentalis livens (Western Gull) · L. occidentalis occidentalis (Western Gull) · L. occidentalis wymani (Western Gull) · L. pacificus (Large-Billed Gull) · L. pacificus pacificus (Pacific Gull) · L. philadelphia (Bonaparte's Rosy Gull) · L. pipixcan (Francolin's Rosy Gull) · L. relictus (Relict Gull) · L. ridibundus (Common Black-Headed Gull) · L. ridibundus ridibundus (Black-Headed Gull) · L. rosea (Ross' Gull) · L. sabini (Sabine's Gull) · L. sabini sabina (Sabine's Gull) · L. sabini woznesenskii (Sabine's Gull) · L. saundersi (Chinese Black-Headed Gull) · L. schistisagus (Slaty-Backed Gull) · L. scopulinus (Red-Billed Gull) · L. scoresbii (Magellan Gull) · L. serranus (Andean Gull) · L. thayeri (Iceland Gull) · L. tridactyla (Black-Legged Kittiwake) · L. tridactyla pollicaris (Black-Legged Kittiwake) · L. tridactyla tridactyla (Black-Legged Kittiwake) · L. vetula (Cape Gull)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A Directory of Neotropical Wetlands. IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 16, p. 17, p. 175, p. 214, p. 218, p. 219, p. 220, p. 52, p. 684, p. 82, p. 83.
• A contribution to the ornithology of northeastern Brazil, by Charles E. Hellmayr. 12 1929 Chicago, 1929. url p. 498.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 135.
• Bulletin / Peabody Museum of Natural History. 1972 New Haven: Peabody Museum of Natural History, url fig. 24.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 68 1927 Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url p. 164.
• Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History. Charles E. Hellmayr, Boardman Conover. 13 1948 Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1948. url p. 254, p. 275, p. 276, p. 282.
• Check-list of North American birds: the species of birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands / prepared by the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Orni Lawrence, Kan.: American Ornithologists' Union, 1983. url p. 215, p. 773.
• Check-list of birds of the world. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1931-1987. url p. 321.
• Contributions to the knowledge of the East African ornithology. Birds collected by the Swedish Mount Elgon Expedition 1920. Lund, C. Blom, 1923. url p. 27, p. 28.
• Ibis. [London]Published for the British Ornithologists' Union by Academic Press. url p. 89.
• International catalogue of scientific literature. LondonPublished for the International Council by the Royal Society of London1901-1920 url p. 572.
• List of the specimens of birds in the collection of the British Museum. London: Printed by the order of the Trustees, 1848-1856. url p. 173.
• Madagascar: an environmental profile IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 177.
• Oceanic birds of South America: a study of species of the related coasts and seas, including the American quadrant of Antarctica, based upon the Brewster-Sanford collection in the American Museum of Natural History / by Robert Cushman Murphy; illustrated from paintings by Francis L. Jaques; photographs, maps, and other drawings. New York: Macmillan Co.: c1936. url p. 1074, p. 1076, p. 1082, p. 1085, p. 187.
• Oil spill sensitivity of the western Indian Ocean islands: coastal data from the Comoros Islands, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion and the Seychelles WCMC url p. 88.
• Ornithological gazetteer of Peru / Lorain Stephens and Melvin A. Traylor, Jr. Cambridge, Mass.: Bird Dept., Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 1983. url p. 251, p. 264.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 10, p. 11, p. 13, p. 3, p. 7, p. 8, p. 9.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 44.
• Revue méthodique et critique des collections déposées dans cet établissement. Leyden, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie. url p. 42.
• The U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the southern hemisphere, during the years 1849-'50-'51-'52. Lieut. J. M. Gilliss, superintendent. .. Vol. I, II, III, VI. .. Washington: A. O. P. Nicholson, printer, 1855-56. url p. 204.
• The non-passerine Pleistocene avifauna of the Talara Tar Seeps, northwestern Peru / Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1979. url p. 127.
• The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. .. during the years 1832-1836. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1838- url p. 142.
• Wissenschaftliche ergebnisse der Deutschen Zentral-Africa-Expedition, 1907-1908: unter Führung Adolf Friedrichs, herzogs zu Mecklenburg. Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1910- url p. 237.

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 cirrocephalus. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. and lt;www.iucnredlist.org and gt;. Downloaded on 21 October 2006.
• BirdLife International 2009. Larus cirrocephalus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 01February2012.
• 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 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 11, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 4 providers.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, "Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds," 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.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 11, 2008:

• BeBIF Provider: Royal Museum of Central Africa - Albertian Rift Birds (ENBI wp13)
• Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates: Bird Collection
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 8342
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-176848
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 4490920
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 176848
• IUCN ID: 218201
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 142765

Footnotes

1. Standard Deviation = 663.720 based on 28 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
2. BirdLife International 2009. Larus cirrocephalus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.