Topic summary
Sea gull
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Gull.
Taxonomy
In common usage, members of various gull species are often referred to as 'seagulls' or 'sea gulls'; however, this is a layperson's term and often not used by ornithologists and biologists. The name is used informally to refer to a common local species (or all gulls in general) and has no fixed taxonomic meaning. In common usage, gull-like seabirds that are not technically gulls (e.g. albatrosses, fulmars, terns, and skuas) may also be referred to as 'seagulls' by the layperson.