Heuglin's gull (''Larus fuscus heuglini'') or the Siberian gull, is a

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

in the genus ''

Larus ''Larus'' is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution (by far the greatest species diversity is in the Northern Hemisphere). Many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges. Until about 2005–2007, most gulls ...

''.

Taxonomy

It is sometimes considered as a separate species (''Larus heuglini'') but is now usually treated as a subspecies of the

lesser black-backed gull The lesser black-backed gull (''Larus fuscus'') is a large gull that breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa. It has increased dramatically in North America, most common alo ...

. Birds in the eastern part of Heuglin's gull's range are often paler grey above and sometimes considered to be a separate subspecies ''Larus fuscus taimyrensis'' (Taimyr gull). It is possible that they are a result of hybridization between Heuglin's gulls and

Vega gull The Vega gull, East Siberian gull, or East Siberian herring gull (''Larus vegae'') is a large gull of the herring gull/lesser black-backed gull complex which breeds in Northeast Asia. Its classification is still controversial and uncertain. It i ...

Distribution and habitat

Heuglin's gulls breed in the

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mo ...

of northern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

from the

Kola Peninsula sjd, Куэлнэгк нёа̄ррк , image_name= Kola peninsula.png , image_caption= Kola Peninsula as a part of Murmansk Oblast , image_size= 300px , image_alt= , map_image= Murmansk in Russia.svg , map_caption = Location of Murmansk Oblast ...

east to the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula (russian: Таймырский полуостров, Taymyrsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administrat ...

. They are regularly reported from

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

and may breed there. They migrate south to winter in

Southwest Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

, the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

, and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

. Small numbers are seen in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, it has been recorded in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

and it may occur as a vagrant in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

Description

They are large gulls with a rounded head, strong bill and long legs and wings. Length is from , wingspan is from and body mass is from .''Gulls: Of North America, Europe, and Asia'' by Klaus Malling Olsen & Hans Larsson. Princeton University Press (2004). . Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

is and the

tarsus Tarsus may refer to: Biology *Tarsus (skeleton), a cluster of articulating bones in each foot *Tarsus (eyelids), elongated plate of dense connective tissue in each eyelid *The distal segment of an arthropod leg see Arthropod tarsus *The lower le ...

is . The back and wings are dark grey, variable in shade but often similar to the ''graelsii'' race of the slightly smaller

. In winter the head is only lightly streaked with brown but there is heavier streaking on the hindneck. The legs are usually yellow but can be pink.

Growth

Moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...

ing takes place later than in most of their relatives so birds still have unstreaked heads and worn

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

in September and October. The primary feathers may not be fully grown until February or March when the head is still streaked.

Diet

They feed mainly on molluscs,

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete worm ...

s, and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

References

* Paul Doherty & Bill Oddie (2001) ''Gulls: A Video Guide to the Gulls of Europe, Asia & North America''. Videocassette. Bird Images. * Klaus Malling Olsen & Hans Larsson (2003) ''Gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia'', Princeton University Press. * Craig Robson (2002) ''A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia''. New Holland, London. * Adrian Skerrett, Ian Bullock & Tony Disley (2001), ''Birds of Seychelles'', Christopher Helm, London.

External links

Heuglin's Gull
Gull Research Organization
The "Herring Gull" Assemblage in South Korea
Birding Korea {{Taxonbar, from=Q2735427

Heuglin's gull Heuglin's gull (''Larus fuscus heuglini'') or the Siberian gull, is a seabird in the genus ''Larus''. Taxonomy It is sometimes considered as a separate species (''Larus heuglini'') but is now usually treated as a subspecies of the lesser black ...

Birds of the Arctic Birds of Europe Birds of Russia Birds of Africa