Little Gull

Hydrocoloeus minutus

Family:

Gulls and terns

Length:

25cm to 27cm

Wingspan:

70cm to 78cm

Weight:

85g to 150g

About the Little Gull

As the name suggests, the little gull is a small and dainty member of the gull family. In the summer, adults have black heads with younger birds having black markings on each wing - this forms a 'W' pattern.

In-flight, adults display dark grey underwings with paler grey colour on the upperwing.

What does a Little Gull eat?

Their diets mainly consist of fish and insects.

Articles featuring the Little Gull

Where Do Seagulls Nest?

Baby Seagulls: All You Need to Know (with Pictures)

Do Seagulls Migrate? (All You Need To Know)

What Do Seagulls Eat? (Complete Guide)

Other birds in the Gulls and terns family

Audouin’s Gull

Named in honour of the French naturalist and ornithologist, Jean Victor Audouin (1797 – 1841) the Audouin’s gull is one of the world’s rarest and is limited in the main to regions within and surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Yellow-Legged Gull

Sandwich Tern

Roseate Tern

Mediterranean Gull

Little Tern

Lesser Black-Backed Gull

Kittiwake

Iceland Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-Backed Gull

Glaucous Gull

Common Tern

Terns are water birds from the family Sternidae and are expert fish catchers. There are generally considered to be forty five separate species of terns worldwide. Generally smaller than gulls but with long tails, thin bodies and short legs, they are long distance migrants.

Common Gull

There are four sub-species of the common gull with the European variant being the nominate. The other three are the Russian, Kamchatka and American, which are all predominantly confined to the geographical region attributed by their name. There are subtle differences in plumage and overall size of bird between sub-species.

Black-Headed Gull

The title of Black-headed Gull is rather a misnomer for this bird as its head is not black but a dark brown colour and only in adult birds during the breeding season. It is not present during the winter months or in other plumages. Unlike many gulls it is not restricted to coastal regions and is widespread inland in both rural and urban areas.