(Larus argentatus)
22 - 26 inches

photograph © James F. Parnell

Status: No special status in North Carolina.

Identification: The Herring Gull is slightly smaller than the Great Black-backed Gull. Adults have a white head, neck and underparts, and a gray mantle. The legs are pinkish, and the bill is yellow with a reddish spot on the lower mandible.

Nesting Habitat: Herring Gulls nest on a variety of sites and habitats including natural and dredged-material islands, natural shoals and marshes. Nests are built on the bare sand or shell, in grasses, or in saltmarsh. In other regions the species will nest on wooded islands and stabilized dunes .

Breeding Biology: Adults begin to gather at North Carolina colony sites and initiate nesting activities in April. Egg-laying usually begins in early May, and can continue through June. Nests may be one foot in diameter and are lined with grass or dried seagrass. The females lay two to three olive-colored eggs with dark brown-black blotches. Both parents participate in incubation, which lasts about 26 days. Chicks often move away from the nest site within a few days after hatching and begin to fly at 35 to 40 days of age. Colony sites are occupied from April to mid-August.

Food: Herring Gulls are opportunistic and have a varied diet, consisting largely of animal matter such as fish, birds, bird eggs, mammals, crustaceans, amphibians, bivalves, mollusks, insects and other invertebrates. They will also feed on fruit and berries, and will forage at garbage dumps.

State Nesting Population: Stable, approximately 700 nesting pairs.

Major Threats: none

Waterbirds:
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Last Revision 5/21/98