The European Herring Gull

In This film we can observe a group of young seagulls who, under the supervision of an adult seagull (surely one of the parents), learn to obtain food at sea. Gabbiano Reale Europeo Mediterranean Sea intotheblue.it

The Seagulls are a subfamily of seabirds, Laridi, of the Charadriiformes order, the main genus is Larus,  medium-large size with dimensions ranging from 29 cm in length and 120 g of weight, to 75 cm in length and 1.75 – 2 kg of weight. The beak is long and sturdy and the legs are palmate.

The wings are usually white, grey or black and in the young also brown. The young people employ two to four years before reaching the adult livery. In This phase they change both the colors of the pens and those of the beak, the paws and the eyes.

They usually live in colonies, nest along the coasts or in wetlands and inland waters. They feed on fish, eggs, small carrion, insects, worms and even human-produced waste.

The yellow-legged gull is a large gull, though the size does vary, with the smallest females being scarcely larger than a common gull and the largest males being roughly the size of a great black backed gull. They range in length from 52 to 68 cm. in total length, from 120 to 155 cm. in wingspan and from 550 to 1,600 g. in weight. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 40.8 to 47.2 cm. the bill is 4.6 to 6 cm. and the tarsus is 5.6 to 7.5 cm. Adults are externally similar to herring gulls but have yellow legs. They have a grey back, slightly darker than herring gulls but lighter than lesser black backed gulls. They are much whiter-headed in autumn, and have more extensively black wing tips with few white spots, just as lesser black-backed. They have a red spot on the bill as adults, like the entire complex. There is a red ring around the eye like in the lesser black-backed gull but unlike in the herring gull which has a dark yellow ring.

First-year birds have a paler head, rump and underparts than those of the herring gull, more closely resembling first-year great black-backed gulls in plumage. They have a dark bill and eyes, pinkish grey legs, dark flight feathers and a well-defined black band on the tail. They become lighter in the underparts and lose the upperpart pattern subsequently. By their second winter, birds are essentially feathered like adults, save for the patterned feathers remaining on the wing coverts. However, their bill tips are black, their eyes still dark, and the legs are a light yellow flesh colour. Gabbiano Reale Europeo Mediterranean Sea intotheblue.it

The call is a loud laugh which is deeper and more nasal than the call of the herring gull.

They are omnivores like most Larus gulls, and they will scavenge on rubbish tips and elsewhere, as well as seeking suitable prey in fields or on the coast, or robbing smaller gulls and other seabirds of their catches.

(extract from Wikipedia)