Creagrus furcatus
The Swallow-tailed Gull, `Creagrus furcatus`, is a strikingly elegant seabird, measuring 50-59 cm in length with a wingspan of 120-128 cm and weighing 610-780 grams. Adults boast a white body, pale gray back and wings with black primary tips, and a distinctive deeply forked tail, which is less pronounced in juveniles. During breeding season, its head is a striking black, contrasted by a prominent crimson-red orbital ring, fading to white with variable black streaking in non-breeding plumage. ...
This pelagic species predominantly inhabits rocky coastal cliffs and shores of oceanic islands, rarely venturing far inland, and spends much of its life foraging over open ocean waters.
Its diet primarily consists of small fish and squid, which it catches by surface-seizing and dipping during nocturnal foraging excursions.
The Swallow-tailed Gull exhibits a unique strictly nocturnal foraging pattern, venturing out at dusk and returning to roost on cliff ledges or at sea before dawn, while being largely diurnal at its breeding colonies. Its primary foraging strategy involves surface-seizing and dipping for prey, oft...
The Swallow-tailed Gull's breeding range is highly restricted, predominantly to the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) and Malpelo Island (Colombia), with a small, irregular colony noted on Cocos Island (Costa Rica). After breeding, individuals disperse widely across the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, ...
Least Concern
- The Swallow-tailed Gull is the only truly nocturnal gull species in the world, a unique adaptation among its family members. - Its unusually large, dark eyes are specially adapted for low-light vision, allowing it to hunt effectively under the cover of night. - The prominent crimson-red orbital...