Silver Gull
Silver Gull
38-43 cm; span c. 94 cm. Familiar Aust. 'seagull': in s. Aust., increasingly common around settlement, from availability of food scraps and garbage. Bill and legs scarlet; eye white; upperparts pale silver-grey; primaries white at base, then black with white tips; white 'windows' in three outer primaries; tail white. Juvenile: bill, eye and legs black; wings mottled buff and brown; small brownish ear patch; each secondary with black subterminal panel, forming broken black line along trailing edge in flight; dusky subterminal spots on tail feathers. Immature: bill dull yellow-brown with dark tip; legs yellow-brown.
bill and legs dull red. Flocks, especially where food plentiful: parks, streets, fishing centres, rubbish tips, vessels near coast. In gales, shelters on town lakes, sports grounds, airfields.
- Voice
- short, harsh, guttural 'korr' or 'keow'; longer, harsh, descending 'karrr-karrr-karrr'. Imms.: peevish squeals, trills.
- Habitat
- waters near coast; beaches, reefs, jetties and piers; town lakes, public gardens, sewage ponds; streets in towns and cities; sports grounds, garbage tips, to which many gulls commute long distances.
- Breeding
- Aug.-Dec.
- Nest
- saucer of seaweed, rootlets, plant stems; on ground, low shrub, rocks, salt-piles, jetties, old boats, etc.
- Eggs
- 1-3; pale brown or bluish to dark olive-green; blotched, spotted, striped dark brown and black.
- Range & Status
- Aust., Tas: very abundant in s., less so in n.; extends far inland, some breeding. Sedentary and dispersive. Vagrant Norfolk I. Also New Cal., NZ, some sub-Antarctic islands.
- Distribution key to races
- 1.Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae
