365 Urban Species. #344: Great Black-backed Gull

[urbpan]

Photo by cottonmanifesto. Location: Jamaica Pond.

Urban species #344: Great black-backed gull Larus marinus

The largest gull in North America is a regular, if not common, visitor to the northeastern cities. Often mixed flocks of city gulls--usually ring-billed and herring gulls--seem to be lorded over by a single great black-backed gull. One or two of these conspicuously larger birds lurks in the back of the flock, shyer of humans despite their commanding size. Sometimes they are the dingy-looking youngsters, or sometimes the adults with bright white bellies and dark black wings. In winter the white is less bright, and the black less dark, but the bird can be recognized still by its larger than red-tailed hawk stature. Black-backs bully other birds out of their catches, including other gulls and even birds of prey. They happily eat garbage and carrion, which accounts for their attraction to urban areas.

Comments

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

When I was on Great Duck Island, the breeding seabird island I mentioned earlier, I saw a black-backed gull kill and swallow a full-sized hare and swallow it whole- I think the hare had a broken leg or something already, because we just heard it scream, turned, and saw the gull stab the hare, pull out and discard its large intestine, and then swallow it head-first. My friend got digital photos of the gull with the hare's feet sticking out of its bill, its crop distended, as it tried to swallow something almost as large as itself!