Scientific name: Larus audouinii Payraudeau, 1826
Bird group: Gulls and Terns
Field characters. 50 cm. Nearly as large as Herring Gull, but slimmer, with narrower wings and relatively small head with long sloping forehead. Adult plumage at all seasons reminiscent of Herring Gull's, but bill is dark red with black subterminal band and yellow tip, legs are greyish olive, orbital ring is coral-red, rump and underparts are suffused with grey; silhouette in flight is noticeably more slender, with black wing-tips which lack well-defined white spots. Mantle and upperwing pale grey; other parts of plumage white; underparts and rump suffused with grey. Non-breeding adult has similar plumage, but sides of head, back of head and hindneck sparsely streaked with brown. Juvenile has cream-white face, crown, belly and vent, uniform grey-brown neck, throat and breast; mantle and wing coverts dark brown with light margins, giving scaled appearance; dark brown tail with white "U"-shaped band and terminal band; legs dark grey. In flight wing shows black terminal band on inner wing and uniform black outer wing.
Voice. Voice quite unlike Herring Gull's, more varied and hoarser; most common call is a nasal, hoarse "geeerk", given when alarmed.
Distribution. Restricted to the Mediterranean, where scarce and local; migration movements limited.
Habitat. Mainly a maritime species, which breeds on rocky islands; outside breeding season often seen foraging far off-coast; also visits sheltered bays, and has a particular preference for bathing in fresh water streams on beaches.
Food. Mainly fish, caught by dipping-to-surface; sometimes also small birds and mammals, and terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates such as insects, squid, and crabs.