The Glaucous Gull is a large gull, 2.1-2.5 feet (0.64-0.76 m) in length with a wingspan of 4.9-6 feet (1.5-1.8 m).
It has a white head, throat, breast, and belly, and a gray back and wings. It has pale pink legs and feet and a yellow bill with a red tip. Males and females look alike.
The Glaucous Gull is very large, measuring about 2.1–2.5 feet (0.64–0.76 m) long, with an impressive wingspan of 4.9–6 feet (1.5–1.8 m).
Glaucous Gulls eat many different kinds of food, including fish, marine invertebrates such as crabs and clams, bird eggs and chicks, small birds, and small mammals. They also scavenge for carrion (dead animals) and may search through garbage for food.
The Glaucous Gull nests in colonies on islands, at the edges of cliffs, on the tundra, on the beach, and at the edges of ponds and lakes. The male and the female build a nest of grass, twigs, moss, and sometimes feathers in a depression in the ground.
The female lays 1-3 eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs for 28 days. Both parents care for and feed the chicks. The chicks fledge (develop flight feathers) at 45-50 days old, but may stay with their parents until they migrate in the fall.
The Glaucous Gull is a predator and a scavenger. It hunts for bird eggs and chicks in nesting areas, and it steals food from other birds. It is also a common visitor to garbage dumps, harbors, fish-processing plants, and sewage ponds.
Glaucous Gulls are not the largest gull by length and wingspan, that would be the Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), but at up to 5 pounds (2.3 g), they are the heaviest by weight.
Support for NatureWorks is provided by:
The Glaucous Gull does not breed in New Hampshire, but can be found in the state in the non-breeding season.
The Glaucous Gull breeds across the western and northern coasts of Alaska and across extreme northern Canada.
It winters in the southern part of its breeding range and along the Pacific Coast south to California and along the Atlantic Coast south to Virginia. It is also found in small numbers in the Great Lakes and along the Gulf of Mexico.
It is also found in Greenland, Iceland, and northern Europe and Asia.
NHPBS inspires one million Granite Staters each month with engaging and trusted local and national programs on-air, online, in classrooms and in communities.
