Swallow-tailed Gull, Creagrus furcatus, Laridae, Espanola Island, Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador, South America
Swallow-tailed Gull, Creagrus furcatus, Laridae, Espanola Island, Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador, South America. The Swallow-tailed Gull, Creagrus furcatus, is an equatorial seabird in the gull family, Laridae. It is the only species in the genus Creagrus. It spends most of its life flying and hunting over the open ocean. The main breeding location is the cliffs of the larger Galapagos Islands, with lower numbers on most of the smaller islands. It is more common on the eastern islands where the water is warmer. It is the only fully nocturnal gull and seabird in the world, preying on squid and small fish which rise to the surface at night to feed on plankton. The Swallow-tailed Gull has no structural or plumage differences between the male and female. In the breeding season the adult has a black plumaged head and a bright red fleshy rim around each eye. Outside the breeding season the head is white and the eye rim becomes black. It has a grayish upper breast, gray mantle and black wingtips. The mostly black bill has a contrasting white tip. The Swallow-tailed Gull is a near endemic breeding bird of the Galapagos Islands although a few nesting pairs nest on Malpelo Island off the coast of Colombia. When not breeding it is totally pelagic, flying and hunting over the open oceans and migrating eastward to the coasts of Ecuador and Peru. In order to see while hunting for food at night the Swallow-tailed Gull's eyes are larger in size and volume than those of any other gull.
Size: 5058px × 3457px
Location: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, South America
Photo credit: © Naturepix / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2, america, archipelago, ave, aves, bird, birds, black, cliff, cliffs, creagrus, ecuador, equatorial, espanola, feathers, furcatus, galapagos, gray, grey, gull, hood, island, laridae, natural, nature, naturepix, pair, pelagic, plumage, red, rock, rocks, sea, seabird, south, swallow, tailed, travel, wild, wildlife
