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Information about Lesser Black Backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull
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Larus fuscus graellsii; England

Larus fuscus graellsii; England
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:Laridae
Genus:Larus
Species:L. fuscus
Binomial name
Larus fuscus
Linnaeus, 1758, Sweden
The Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) is a large gull which breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa. It is also a regular winter visitor to the east coast of North America, probably from the breeding population in Iceland.

This species breeds colonially on coasts and lakes, making a lined nest on the ground or cliff. Normally, three eggs are laid.

They are similar in size to the Herring Gull or just slightly smaller. The taxonomy of the Herring Gull / Lesser Black-backed Gull complex is very complicated; different authorities recognise between two and eight species. This group has a ring distribution around the northern hemisphere. Differences between adjacent forms in this ring are fairly small, but by the time the circuit is completed, the end members, Herring Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull, are clearly different species.

The only confusable species in Europe is Great Black-backed Gull. Lesser is a smaller bird, with slimmer build, yellow rather than pinkish legs and smaller white "mirrors" at the wing tips. The adults have black or dark grey wings (depending on race) and back. The bill is yellow with a red spot which young peck at, inducing feeding (see fixed action pattern). The head is greyer in winter, unlike Great Black-backed.

Young birds have scaly black-brown upperparts and a neat wing pattern. They take four years to reach maturity. Identification from juvenile Herring Gulls is most readily done by the more solidly dark (unbarred) tertial feathers.

The call is a "laughing" cry like that of the Herring Gull (to which this species is closely related), but with a markedly deeper pitch.

They are omnivores like most Larus gulls, and they will scavenge as well as seek suitable small prey.

There are three races:

Gallery


Lesser Black-backed Gull - mother gull and her baby

L. f. graellsii in flight off the coast of Skomer, Wales

A Lesser Black-backed Gull L. fuscus behind a Herring Gull, L. argentatus in Poland.


External links

References

  • BirdLife International (2004). Larus fuscus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
  • "National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
  • Seabirds by Peter Harrison, ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
  • Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 3, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-10-5
  • "National Audubon Society" The Sibley Guide to Birds, by David Allen Sibley, ISBN 0-679-45122-6
Motto
Dieu et mon droit   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, nor Near Threatened, nor (prior to 2001) Conservation Dependent.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Charadriiformes
Huxley, 1867

Families

Scolopacidae
Rostratulidae
Jacanidae
Thinocoridae
Pedionomidae
Laridae
Rhynchopidae
Sternidae
Alcidae
Stercorariidae
Glareolidae
Dromadidae
Turnicidae
Burhinidae
Chionididae
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Laridae
Vigors, 1825

Genera

Larus
Rissa
Pagophila
Rhodostethia
Xema
Creagus

Gulls are birds in the family Laridae.
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Larus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

Many, see list

Larus is a large genus of seabirds to which most gulls belong. It has a world-wide distribution, and many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges.
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)

Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775. Currently owned by and hanging at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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8th century - 9th century - 10th century
850s  860s  870s  - 880s -  890s  900s  910s
885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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Motto
(Royal) "För Sverige - I tiden" 1
"For Sweden – With the Times" Â²
Anthem
Du gamla, Du fria
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Laridae
Vigors, 1825

Genera

Larus
Rissa
Pagophila
Rhodostethia
Xema
Creagus

Gulls are birds in the family Laridae.
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Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres (41.1 million square miles), it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface.
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Migrations include movements of varied distances made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather.
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British Isles<nowiki />

The British Isles in relation to mainland Europe

Geography <nowiki/>
Location Western Europe <nowiki /> <nowiki />
Total islands 6,000+<nowiki />

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Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30,221,532 km² (11,668,545 sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20.4% of the total land area.
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North America is a continent [1] in the Earth's northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west
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Anthem
Lofsöngur

Location of  Iceland

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L. argentatus

Binomial name
Larus argentatus
Pontoppidan, 1763, Denmark

The Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, is a large gull which breeds across North America, Europe and Asia.
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L. argentatus

Binomial name
Larus argentatus
Pontoppidan, 1763, Denmark

The Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, is a large gull which breeds across North America, Europe and Asia.
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ring species present an interesting problem for those who seek to divide the living world into discrete species.

Explanation of the diagram

The coloured bar to the right shows a number of natural populations, each population represented by a different colour, varying along
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L. marinus

Binomial name
Larus marinus
(Linnaeus, 1758, Gotland, Sweden)

Distribution across the Northern Hemisphere


The Great Black-backed Gull,
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fixed action pattern (FAP) is an instinctive behavioral sequence that is indivisible and runs to completion. Fixed action patterns are invariant and are produced by a neural network known as the innate releasing mechanism
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Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the Little Belt.
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Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centred on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
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Motto
none
(Royal motto: Guds hjælp, Folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke
"The Help of God, the Love of the People, the Strength of Denmark" )
Anthem
Der er et yndigt land  (national)
Kong Christian
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