Larus fuscus
The Lesser Black-backed Gull, *Larus fuscus*, is a medium-large gull, notably smaller and more slender than its close relative, the Great Black-backed Gull. Adults typically measure 50-64 cm (20-25 in) in length with a formidable wingspan of 120-150 cm (47-59 in) and weigh between 690-1300 g (1.5-2.9 lbs). Its most distinctive field mark is its dark, slate-gray mantle, contrasting sharply with its white underparts and often appearing almost black in the darkest subspecies, combined with strik...
This adaptable gull primarily inhabits coastal regions, estuaries, and offshore islands during the breeding season, often nesting on cliffs, dunes, or even urban rooftops. Outside of breeding, it utilizes a wide array of environments including landfills, agricultural fields, large inland lakes, a...
Highly omnivorous and opportunistic, the diet consists of a wide range of items including fish, marine and terrestrial invertebrates (crabs, insects, worms), eggs and chicks of other birds, small mammals, carrion, agricultural waste, and human refuse from landfills and urban areas.
Lesser Black-backed Gulls are largely diurnal, exhibiting opportunistic feeding throughout the day and gathering in large, communal roosts on water or secluded ground at night. Their foraging strategies are incredibly diverse, encompassing scavenging at landfills, predating on small birds, eggs, ...
The Lesser Black-backed Gull breeds predominantly across Northwestern Europe, including the British Isles, Iceland, Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea region, and extending eastward into Western Russia. Its breeding range is largely restricted to temperate and boreal zones. During the non-breeding seaso...
Least Concern
- The Lesser Black-backed Gull is one of the most successful avian colonizers of North America, having transitioned from an extreme rarity to a regular wintering species on the Atlantic coast over the last century. - It takes a full four years for an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull to achieve i...