Kelp Gull

Kelp Gull
Kelp Gull
In central Chile
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Larus
Species: L. dominicanus
Binomial name
Larus dominicanus
(Lichtenstein, 1823)

The Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus), also known as the Dominican Gull, breeds on coasts and islands through much of the southern hemisphere. The race L. d. vetula occurs around southern Africa, and nominate L. d. dominicanus is the subspecies found around South America, parts of Australia (where it overlaps with Pacific Gull), and New Zealand (where it is known as the Southern Black-backed Gull or by its Māori name Karoro). The specific name comes from the Dominican order of friars who wore black and white habits.[1] It is the southern equivalent of the northern hemisphere's Lesser Black-backed Gull, but averages slightly larger than that species at 54–65 cm in total length and 128–142 cm in wingspan. This is a mainly coastal gull.

A kelp gull nest with two eggs, Patagonia, Argentina

The nest is a shallow depression on the ground lined with vegetation and feathers. The female usually lays 2 or 3 eggs. Both parents feed the young birds.

Contents

Description

Adult and two chicks in New Zealand

The adult Kelp Gull has black upperparts and wings. The head, underparts, tail and the small "mirrors" at the wing tips are white. The bill is yellow with a red spot, and the legs are greenish-yellow (brighter and yellower when breeding, duller and greener when not breeding). The call is a strident ki-och. Juveniles have dull legs, a black bill, a dark band in the tail, and an overall grey-brown plumage densely edged whitish, but they rapidly get a pale base to the bill and largely white head and underparts. They take three or four years to reach maturity.

The African subspecies L. d. vetula is sometimes split as the Cape Gull, L. vetula. It has a more angular head and a smaller shorter bill. The adult has a dark eye, whereas the nominate Kelp Gull usually has a pale eye. Young Cape Gulls have almost identical plumage to similarly aged Kelp Gulls.

Behaviour

Kelp Gulls are omnivores like most Larus gulls, and they will scavenge as well as seeking suitable small prey. It gathers on landfills and a sharp increase in its population is therefore considered as an indicator for a degraded environment.[2] Kelp Gulls have been observed feeding on live right whales since at least 1996.[3] The Kelp Gull uses its powerful beak to peck down centimetres into the skin and blubber, often leaving the whales with large open sores, some of which have been observed to be half a meter in diameter. This predatory behavior has been continually documented in Argentinian waters, and continues today.[4]

Various views and plumages

See also

References

  1. ^ "Shelly Farr Biswell", "Southern Black-Backed Gulls", New Zealand Geographic, number 73, May–June 2005
  2. ^ Cf. José Felipe M. Pereira, Aves e Pássaros Comuns do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro: Technical Books, ISBN 978-85-61368-00-5, pg.55
  3. ^ Increased harassment of Right Whales (Eubalaena australis) by Kelp Gulls (Larus dominicanus) at Península Valdés, Argentina. Rowntree, V.J., P. MacGuiness, K. Marshall, R. Payne, J. Seger, and M. Sironi, 1998. Marine Mammal Science. 14(1): 99 - 115. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.1998.tb00693.x
  4. ^ Gulls' vicious attacks on whales. BBC News, June 24, 2009.
  • BirdLife International (2004). Larus dominicanus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
  • Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN 1-86872-721-1
  • Seabirds by Harrison, ISBN 0-7470-1410-8

External links


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