Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 15.7–16.9 in
40–43 cm - Wingspan
- 42.5–47.2 in
108–120 cm - Weight
- 15.8–24.2 oz
448–687 g
Other Names
- Goéland sénateur, Mouette blanche (French)
- Gaviota marfil (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The Ivory Gull casts up pellets of indigestible matter from its food, such as bones and fur. Pellet-casting is most frequent where lemmings are abundant and are the major prey.
- The adult Ivory Gull attending the nest expels its faeces powerfully by aiming its cloaca outward from cliff nest sites.
- Large nests of the Ivory Gull are eaten by caribou during the winter and early spring.
Habitat
Ocean
Breeds on rocky islands and cliffs near pack ice. Winters on pack and drift ice.
Food
Fish
Fish, marine invertebrates, some small mammals, carrion. Also feces and placentas of seals.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 1–3 eggs
- Egg Description
- Dark to pale brown with variable amount of dark spotting and blotching.
- Condition at Hatching
- Alert and mobile, covered with white down.
Nest Description
Mound of mosses, dry grass, splinters of driftwood, feathers, down, stalks, algae or seaweeds, lichen, or dried mud. Placed on cliff ledges, dry stony ridges within a few meters of the ice cap, gently-sloping boulder-strewn mounds, or gravel banks in small streams.
Nest Placement
Ground
Behavior
Aerial Dive
Hovers, dips, and plunges into water to get food. Attracted by red splashes on snow. Follows whales. Scavenges carrion from polar bear kills.
Conservation
Near Threatened
Little information available because of remote breeding and wintering areas.
Credits
- Haney, J. C., and S. D. MacDonald. 1995. Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea). In The Birds of North America, No. 175 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C.