A large, dark-backed gull with long wings and yellow legs. Adults show a large red spot on the bill and moderate contrast between the dark gray back and black primaries. In late summer and fall, adults molt their wing feathers—the worn tips to the old, unreplaced outer primaries are visible here.
A large, high-contrast gull with long wings, yellow legs, and a dark gray back; adults show a large red spot on the yellow bill. Subspecies identification is very complicated away from the breeding grounds. The European subspecies intermedius shows dark gray upperparts that are intermediate in shade between the paler birds of northwestern Europe (graellsii) and the black-backed birds from the Baltic Sea and northeastern Europe (fuscus).
Long wings, yellow legs, and dark upperparts combine to distinguish this adult. Breeding birds from the Baltic Sea and northeastern Europe (fuscus) are truly blackish above rather than slate gray. This is the darkest-backed of all subspecies.
A long-winged, dark gray-backed gull with yellowish legs. The subspecies found breeding in western Siberia between the Kola and Taimyr peninsula (subspecies heuglini) apparently interbreeds with “Taimyr” Lesser Black-backed Gull (taimyrensis) at the eastern edge of its range. Subspecies identification of Lesser Black-backed Gulls away from each subspecies’ breeding range can be difficult or impossible.
A large but slim, long-winged gull. Young immatures like this 1st-winter bird are pale-headed, crisply checkered dark and white, and usually show a fully black bill through the first winter. The brown, black, and white plumage is relatively cold-toned.
Large gull with long wings and a slim black bill; juveniles are cold-toned and show dark feathers crisply edged in white on the back and upperwing.
A long-winged, yellow-legged gull showing moderate contrast between the slate gray upperwing and black wingtip. Adults show a restricted amount of white near the wingtip and a red spot on the bill, but may also show immature-like black bill markings.
As juveniles, these slim, long-winged gulls show cold plumage tones and feature an all dark bill, blackish primaries and secondaries, and a dark tail band that contrasts with a whitish rump and tail base. They appear crisply marked with neat, even feather edgings.
The wings of first cycle birds are dark below and contrast strongly with the pale body. Birds of this age show black bills and whitish bodies marked with dark splotches. Note the leg color—young immatures show pink legs that gradually become yellow after 2–3 years.
A dark-backed gull with yellow legs and a slim white crescent near the tail formed by the tertial tips. Winter adults show dusky streaks on the head. Wing molt often carries into mid-winter, and late-molting adults like this often appear short-winged because of the new, growing outer primary feathers.
As far as large gulls go, this species appears slim due to its both long wings and long legs. Most subspecies (including heuglini, shown here) show moderate contrast between the dark gray upperparts and the black primary tips.
Perhaps because of their long distance migrations, these gulls wander widely and can be expected to appear nearly anywhere on the globe. This pale-backed, dark-eyed individual with long fleshy-yellow legs was seen in Nova Scotia and fits the description of Taimyr Gull (subspecies taimyrensis), though identification of large gull taxa so far out of range is usually either speculative or impossible.
As they repeatedly molt over the course of 3-4 years, these gulls progress from the checkered juvenile plumage to gray-backed, white-bodied adults. This presumed second winter gull shows replaced, gray-toned upperparts and round-tipped primaries. Note the mostly white head and the mostly black bill, which help to distinguish immatures from other immature large gulls.
A long-winged, dark-gray backed gull with pale eyes and yellowish legs. Older immatures show a mix of immature and adult plumage and soft parts characteristics. By focusing on the degree of contrast between the plain, adult-like back feathers and the black primary tips, you can judge the relative darkness of the upperparts, and this can help sort through various local large gull options.
Because of their long distance migrations and extended exposure to sun and abrasion, it’s very important for large gulls to replace their flight feathers each year. In gulls, molt generally starts near the middle of the wing and progresses outward through the primaries. This older immature bird is midway through replacing its primaries - the dark, ragged outer primaries are old, unreplaced feathers, and the four gray feathers with white tips near the middle of the wing are newly replaced inner primaries. With older immature large gulls, the exact gray tone of the plain adult-like back feathers can be very helpful for identification—compare them to the black wingtips to judge the contrast between these feather tracts.
Click on an image to compare
A medium to large gull with rather long, pointed wings (wingtips extend far beyond the tail when perched). Although smaller and slimmer than other “large gulls” like Herring Gull, this species has a larger head and thicker bill than “medium” gulls like Ring-billed.
Larger than a Ring-billed Gull, smaller than a Herring Gull.
between crow and gooseTaxonomists often recognize five or six subspecies of Lesser Black-backed Gull. North American records refer mostly to the western European subspecies graellsii. It has a paler gray back and upperwings than intermedius (northwestern Europe) and is much paler than fuscus (in the Baltic region), both of which have been reported as very rare vagrants in eastern North America. Farther east, in Russia, many ornithologists group the subspecies heuglini, taimyrensis, and barabensis with Lesser Black-backed Gull. Some of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the U.S. Pacific coast appear to be consistent with this Russian group.
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers(Order: Charadriiformes, Family: Laridae)
Need Bird ID Help? Try Merlin
The Cornell Lab will send you updates about birds,
birding, and opportunities to help bird conservation.
