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Iceland Gull Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Long calls (Thayer's)
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Washington, September 24, 2020Recorded by Andrew Spencer / Macaulay Library
Calls (Thayer's)
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Nunavut, June 27, 1984Recorded by Randolph Little / Macaulay Library
Calls (Thayer's)
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Nunavut, June 27, 1984Recorded by Randolph Little / Macaulay Library
Calls (kumlieni)
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New York, February 21, 2012Recorded by Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library
Juvenile calls (kumlieni)
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Prince Edward Island, February 18, 2017Recorded by Bob McGuire / Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Calls

Like many other gulls, Iceland Gulls have several calls. One known as the “main call” is a repeated series of two-parted “kee-ya” notes. It’s often used as an alarm call, and at nest colonies can spur the entire colony to plunge off their high cliff nests into the air. The “long call” is similar to (but shriller than) the classic, repeated series of calls that Herring Gulls give from dock pilings. They also give various shorter barking or mewing calls when taking flight or settling into the nest.

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Glaucous-winged Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

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Species in This Family

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers(Order: Charadriiformes, Family: Laridae)

Black-legged Kittiwake

Bonaparte's Gull

Black-headed Gull

Franklin's Gull

Heermann's Gull

Short-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

California Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Gull-billed Tern

Browse Species in This Family

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