Great Black Backed Gull on the wing, Isle of Mull, Scotland. SCO 7379
The great black-backed gull has an extensive breeding range across the north Atlantic and adjacent seas, and historically, Britain and Ireland have hosted most of the world population after Iceland and Norway. They breed mainly in the Outer and Inner Hebrides and the Northern Isles of Scotland. These regions offer extensive areas of the preferred breeding habitat of well-vegetated rocky coastline with stacks and cliffs. The 20th century saw widespread expansion of the great black-backed gull breeding range and numbers on both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain at least, population increase was remarkable given that a period of decline rendered the species virtually extinct as a breeder towards the end of the previous century. The species nests almost exclusively in coastal habitats, but will occasionally nest inland at freshwater sites as well as on the roofs of buildings. The Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) is the largest gull in the world, which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic. It is fairly sedentary, but some Great Black-backed Gulls move farther south or inland to large lakes or reservoirs. The Great Black-backed Gull was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name of Larus marinus.
Size: 5168px × 4061px
Location: Isle of Mull, Loch na Keal, Argyll Scotland. United Kingdom.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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