Yellow-legged Gull:
UK Status: Resident and
winter visitor.
Habitat: This bird is
mainly a visitor that appears in the latter part of the year. There is
however a small breeding population in the UK, mainly in England. These
birds tend to visit, and sometimes frequent inland pools and lakes,
marshy areas, rivers, estuaries and the coast.
Breeding: This bird nests
on the ground, or on cliff ledges, nests are a mound of decaying
vegetation. There are usually three eggs in a clutch, eggs are fairly
pointed, pale buff, and marked with pale grey and brown blotches.
Incubation takes nealy a month, and chicks fledge in about five to six
weeks.
Comment: One of our larger
gulls in the UK, the Yellow-legged Gull have only recently achieved the
status of being a distinct species in it's own right. Formerly it has
been classed as a sub species of both the Herring, and Caspian Gulls.
This bird is very much like the Herring, and Lesser
Black-backed Gulls in appearance. It is slightly larger than the Lesser
Black-backed, and slightly smaller than the Herring Gull. Also the wing
coverts are paler than in the Lesser Black-backed, but slightly darker
than the Herring Gull.
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
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