Herring Gull Identification

The Herring Gull is larger than the Common Gull.

With its short legs and rounded head, it is more stocky than a gull.

It has a pale grey back, similar to the Black-headed Gull.

The head and underside are white.

In winter, brownish spots appear on the head and the area around the eye is darker.

Its medium-sized beak is slightly orange-yellow with a red spot.

Its eyes have a pale yellow iris and an orange orbital ring.

Its legs are flesh pink.

The juvenile is speckled brown with a scaled appearance.

It takes 4 years to achieve adult plumage. Intermediate stages can be observed with more or fewer brown spots and grey plumage.

Before identifying the species, it's important to determine if the observed bird is adult or immature.

Then identifying adults in the field requires close observation…

Using the shades of grey, the white patterns on the black wingtips, the color and shape of the beak and legs, and the silhouette…

Thus, confusions with other species are numerous...

It is often confused in Europe with the Yellow-legged Gull. But the latter has yellow legs and a red orbital ring, a stronger beak with the reddish spot extending beyond the mandible.

It also resembles the Caspian Gull. But the latter has a more upright posture, a rounded chest, and longer legs.

It can be distinguished from the Lesser Black-backed Gull by its dark slate-grey back and yellow legs.

As for the Great Black-backed Gull, it is the largest of the gulls and is noted for its dark grey almost black back, its very strong beak, and its flesh pink legs.

In flight, the white patterns on a black background at the wingtips are distinctive and help differentiate subspecies. The argenteus subspecies of the Herring Gull has more black and less white.

The argentatus subspecies of the Herring Gull has more white and less black than the argenteus subspecies.

There are still other species... Observing gulls is an opportunity to develop an expert eye!

The Herring Gull emits simple repeated cries "kiè" "kia" similar to those of the Common Gull. They are difficult to distinguish.

The Herring Gull is sociable.

It is not very shy and easily visible.

It flies with long, regular wingbeats and glides with its long, wide wings like gulls and other seabirds.

In soaring flight, sometimes very high, it uses updrafts like raptors to gain altitude and descends in a glide.

It often flies in groups.

The Herring Gull's breeding season begins in March in the south of its range and until May in the far north.

It nests in colonies.

It primarily nests on coastal islands, cliffs, dunes, and lakes.

It generally lays 1 clutch per year of 3 greenish eggs with dark spots.

The nest, a cup made of locally found materials, is sheltered in a rock crevice or a grassy tuft.

The chicks are brooded for a few days to achieve homeothermy (the production of their own heat).

During reproduction, it mainly eats fish.

The Herring Gull is omnivorous and opportunistic.

It prefers to be piscivorous.

It also eats various marine and terrestrial invertebrates and vertebrates (shellfish, worms) as well as waste.

It often searches for food near fishing ports, landfills, and plowed fields.

It sometimes travels several dozen kilometers to feed at sea.

The Herring Gull has 2 subspecies in Europe. The argentatus subspecies and the argenteus subspecies (smaller and lighter grey). They have different ranges.

The argenteus subspecies lives on the coasts of Western Europe and Iceland. This species is mostly sedentary.

The argentatus subspecies nests in northern Europe in Scandinavia and southern Baltic.

The argentatus subspecies is migratory. It leaves the far north and joins the sedentary argenteus species in the North Sea during winter to the Bay of Biscay.

The Herring Gull is the common gull of the French Atlantic coast.

It is often found on the coasts...

but also inland, in fields and landfills, all year round to feed.

The Yellow-legged Gull, the species with which it is often confused, mainly lives on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. But its range is expanding further north (in Western Europe and the Baltic between July and October, increasing confusion).

The Herring Gull can live up to 32 years.