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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull: World's largest gull. White head, black upperparts, white underparts, large yellow bill with red spot on lower mandible, pale-eyed with red orbital ring, pink legs, feet. Flight is direct and powerful with deep, slow wing beats. Soars on thermals or updrafts.

● Song: "gowl", "gawp", "hah-hah-hah", "owk-owk", "keeeeeeee-aaaahh"

● Foraging & Feeding: Great Black-backed Gull: Pugnacious, predatory and opportunistic. Omnivorous. Eats carrion, fish, refuse, eggs and young of other birds, mollusks, crustaceans, rodents, berries, and insects. Steals food from other birds and scavenges on beaches. May take prey as large as other gulls, cormorants, and rabbits.

● Breeding & nesting: Great Black-backed Gull: Monogamous; colonial but occasionally solitary. Nest of grasses, seaweed, moss, feathers, debris, and sticks built by both sexes on ground atop small pile of grasses or seaweed, often sheltered in ridges of cliff; two to three buff, olive, or brown eggs with brown spots. Incubation ranges from 26 to 29 days and is carried out by both sexes. Chicks are fed by both parents.

● Similar species: Great Black-backed Gull: Herring Gull smaller, with much lighter gray wings.

Flight Pattern