Common Gull male in display attitude near its colonial nesting site on a Scottish moor. SCO 9754
It looks like a small, gentler version of the herring gull, with greenish legs and a yellow bill. Despite its name, it is not at all common in some inland areas, though often abundant on the coast and in some eastern counties. They are now seen more often in towns and on housing estates in winter. In summer Common Gulls can often be seen along coasts and inland marshes and lakes of Scotland, N Ireland and N England. Elsewhere in England and Wales seen in winter on farmland, near lakes and marshes and on the coast. UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually is estimated at 49,000. UK wintering (710,000) is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or common gulls are 40–46 cm long, noticeably smaller than the herring gull, and slightly smaller than the ring-billed gull, also differing from the latter in its shorter, more tapered bill with a more greenish shade of yellow, as well as being unmarked during the breeding season. The body is grey above and white below. The legs are greenish-yellow. In winter, the head is streaked grey, and the bill often has a poorly defined blackish band near the tip (sometimes sufficiently obvious to cause confusion with ring-billed gull). They have black wingtips with large white "mirrors". Young birds have scaly black-brown upperparts and a neat wing pattern, and grey legs. They take two to three years to reach maturity. The call is a high-pitched "laughing" cry.
Size: 5562px × 4401px
Location: Dava Moor, Morayshire. Grampian Region Scotland. UK.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: abundant, adults, america, america., american, asia, asian, bill, birds, breeding, breeds, canus, carrion, cm, colonial, commercial, common, diet, differing, display, drainage, due, eat, environment, europe, european, farming, feeds, fish, food, forests, grazing, greenish, gregarious, gull, larus, medium-sized, mew, migrates, north, northern, northwestern, south, winter.
