Other Gulls

Sternines

Genus Hydrocoloeus

Two small gull species:

  • Little Gull Hydrocoloeus minutus, temperate Europe and Asia, inland and coastal.
  • Ross's Gull Hydrocoleus roseus, high Arctic of eastern Siberia, Canada and Greenland.

Little Gull
Hydrocoloeus minutus
Stavoren, The Netherlands
Culmen: 24.2 mm; total 62.9 mm.
Unsexed adult

Swalow-tailed Gull

Genus Creagrus

One species:

  • Swallow-tailed Gull Creagrus furcatus, Galapagos Islands dispersing along South American Pacific coast.

Arctic Gulls

Genus Pagophila

One species:

  • Ivory Gull Pagophila eburna, high Arctic, circumpolar

Ivory Gull
Pagophila eburnea
Greenland
Culmen: 47.4 mm; total: 94.1 mm.
Unsexed adult

Genus Xema

One species:

  • Sabine's Gull Xema sabini. High Arctic, dispersing to South American and South African coasts

Kittiwakes

Genus Rissa

Two medium sized and very similar species from the higher latitudes of both major oceans. As the names say the coloration of the legs is the main difference between the species. The Black-legged Kittiwake is a little bit larger and has a slightly more slender bill than its red-legged cousin. The two species overlap in distribution only in the Bering Sea area.

  • Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, two subspecies:
    - R. t. tridactyla, Arctic Canada to Atlantic coast of Canada and Europe.
    - R. t. policaris, north-east Siberia to Kamchatka and Commander Is. and Aleutians.
  • Red-legged Kittiwake Rissa brevirostris, Bering Sea and adjacent waters.

Black-legged Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
Kornwerderzand, The Netherlands
Culmen: 37.9 mm; total: 91.6 mm.
Unsexed adult

Larines

'Black-headed' Gulls

Genus Ichthyaetus

Six species:

  • White-eyed Gull Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus. north-western Indian Ocean.
  • Sooty Gull Ichthyaetus hemprichii. North-western Indian Ocean.
  • Great Black-headed or Pallas's Gull Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus. From Black Sea to Mongolia, eastern Mediterranean.
  • Audouin's Gull Ichthyaetus audouinii. Mediterranean Sea
  • Mediterranean Gull Ichtyaetus melanocephalus. Mediterranean and western Europe: expanding
  • Relict Gull Ichthyaetus relictus. Central Asia

Sooty Gull
Ichtyaetus hemprichii
Oman
Culmen: 47.6 mm; total: 105.5 mm.
Unsexed adult

Adouin's Gull
Ichtyaetus adouinii
Morocco
Culmen: 47.1 mm; total: 112.3 mm.
Adult female

Mediterranean Gull
Ichtiaetus melanocephalus
Malta
Culmen: 37.5; total: 86.0 mm.
Unsexed adult

'Hooded' Gulls

Genus Leucophaeus

Five species:

  • Dolphin Gull Leucophaeus scoresbii. southern South America, Falkland Is.
  • Grey Gull Larus modestus, vagrant has reached North America
  • Lava Gull Leucophaeus fuliginosus. Galapagos Is.
  • Laughing Gull Larus atricilla, southern North America, Caribbean and Central America.
  • Franklin's Gull Larus pipixcan, central North America, dispersing southward along Pacific coast.

References