Yellow-legged Gull

The Yellow-legged Gull is a large, powerfully built gull common across southern and western Europe, closely related to and once considered part of the same species as the Herring Gull. Adults show a medium-to-dark gray mantle, somewhat darker than a typical Herring Gull, with a clean white head and underparts.

As its name suggests, the legs are bright yellow, a key feature separating it from the pink-legged Herring Gull. The bill is bold yellow with a prominent red spot near the tip, and the eye is pale. Immature birds pass through a series of mottled brown plumages over about four years before reaching full adult plumage.

While common and widespread around the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast of Iberia and France, the Yellow-legged Gull is a rare but increasingly recorded vagrant to the northeastern coast of North America, typically found among flocks of Herring Gulls.

Key field marks

• Bright yellow legs (a key distinguishing feature)
• Medium-to-dark gray mantle, darker than Herring Gull
• Bold yellow bill with a red gonydeal spot
• Pale eye
• Large, robust build

Similar species

• Herring Gull: pink legs and a paler mantle.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull: darker mantle still, also with yellow legs, but typically slimmer with longer wings extending well past the tail.
• Great Black-backed Gull: much larger and darker, with pink legs.

Habitat

Found on rocky coastlines, cliffs, harbors, agricultural land, refuse sites, and increasingly in urban areas across its range.

Range and migration

Breeds around the Mediterranean Basin and along the Atlantic coasts of Iberia and France; largely resident or short-distance migrant, with a small but growing number of individuals recorded as vagrants along the northeastern coast of North America, particularly in winter among Herring Gull flocks.

Behavior

An adaptable and often bold gull, thriving around fishing harbors, urban centers, and landfills, and known for its opportunistic and sometimes aggressive foraging behavior.

Voice

Calls are similar to Herring Gull, including a deep laughing "kyow" and long call, though often described as slightly deeper or harsher.

Feeding

Omnivorous, taking fish, refuse, eggs and chicks of other birds, and invertebrates, readily scavenging around human activity.

Nesting and breeding

Nests colonially on cliffs, rooftops, and islands, building a scrape lined with vegetation. Clutches typically contain two to three eggs, incubated by both parents.