Family:
The glaucous-winged gull is a large, heavyset gull with a flat head and a long, heavy bill. During the breeding season, it has silvery-grey upperparts, pale grey wingtips, and white underparts. Its head is white, the bill is yellow with a red spot, the eyes are dark and surrounded by pink skin, and the legs and feet are pink. Outside the breeding season, the head and neck is buffy-coloured, and the bill becomes duller with dark markings near the tip. Juveniles take four years to develop their full adult plumage.
This gull frequently hybridises with other gull species, including western, herring, American herring, and glaucous gulls, making identification challenging.
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The glaucous-winged gull is an opportunistic feeder, preying on fish, mussels, crabs, starfish, and molluscs. To access the edible parts of hard-shelled prey, it often drops them onto rocks to break them open.
This gull is also an active scavenger, frequently foraging around fishing boats, processing plants, landfills, and rubbish bags. It is known to take food from humans and often forms flocks with other gull species, especially outside the breeding season, to search for food.
The glaucous-winged gull breeds along the North Pacific coast, ranging from western Alaska to Washington. It inhabits beaches, mudflats, and urban parks, though it rarely ventures far from the ocean.
During the winter, it migrates south to coastal regions of California, Oregon, and Mexico.
