| Black-tailed gull | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Genus: | Larus |
| Species: | L. crassirostris |
| Binomial name | |
| Larus crassirostris Vieillot, 1818 | |
The black-tailed gull (Larus crassirostris) is a gull native to shorelines of East Asia.
The black-tailed gull is medium-sized (46 cm) (19 Inches), with a wingspan of 126–128 cm (49.6 - 50.3 Inches). It has yellow legs and a red and black spot at the end of the bill. Males and females have identical plumage and features, although males are larger in size than females. [2] This gull takes four years to reach full adult plumage. [3] As the name suggests, it has a black tail. The bird has a cat-like call, giving it its Japanese name — umineko (海猫, "sea cat"), and Korean name — gwaeng-yi gull, which means "cat" gull. In Hachinohe they are one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan. [4]
The species is resident to coastlines of the East China Sea, Japan, Manchuria and the Kuril Islands. It is a vagrant to Alaska and North America [5] [6] and has been found in the Philippines. [7]
The bird is common in Japan, nesting from Hokkaido to Western Kyushu. It has caused flights to be delayed at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. [8]
An enormous gathering of black-tailed gulls can be found at Kabushima, a peninsula (formerly an island) in Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan. A Shinto shrine was raised by fishermen in 1269 (though it has been rebuilt several times since) at which the black-tailed gull, is seen as a messenger of the goddess of the fishery. For over 700 years, the species has enjoyed reverence, feeding and protection from the local population. As a result, every summer, over 40,000 black-tailed gulls nest and raise their young in the grounds of the shrine and the surrounding island, which has been designated a National Natural Monument by the government of Japan. The gulls are very tame and are a popular local tourist attraction. [9]
Around 5,000 birds also nest at Fumi-shima in Shimane Prefecture near Izumo Shrine, [10] and there is a large colony at Teuri Island in Hokkaido. [11]
The species is common on the shoreline of Korea and on various islands. There are over 20,000 black-tailed gulls on Liancourt Rocks, and numbers are increasing due to the absence of predators. In 2008, the bird was officially chosen as one of the mascots of Liancourt Rocks. [12] Nando and Hongdo islands, both Korean natural monuments as of 1982, are also known breeding grounds. [13] [14]
A rare visitor to the United States, a black-tailed gull was spotted from Burlington, Vermont, in October 2005. [15] The species has been spotted in Illinois several times. [16]
The black-tailed gull feeds mainly on small fish, molluscs, crustaceans scraps and carrion. A study analyzing the identifiable parts of gull excreta in Korea found that 19.1% consisted of the remains of fish, 3.3% of crustaceans, and 3.3% of land insects. [17]
The species often follows ships and commercial fishing fleets. It also steals food from other seabirds. It is a colonial nester, with colonies forming in mid-April. 2–3 eggs are laid by early June. Incubation lasts approximately 24 days. [18]
Black-tailed gulls use a variety of voice signals and are known to use more than 10 different sounds for communication. Young can recognize their parents from their voice and visual stimulation between 10 and 15 days after hatching, and can also distinguish between siblings and non-siblings. Alarm calls are alert signals that warn of predators or danger. Aggressive calls accompany attacks on predators. Contact calls are signals used for intra-specific communication. The most commonly heard cat-like sound ("mew call") is a part of the contact call, and is frequently used, such as when returning to the nest after taking food, alternating the role of the mating and nesting, taking care of the young, collective flight, etc. The sound of a young gull begging for food and the sound of a female during mating are also included in the contact call. [19]
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed in the genus Larus, but that arrangement is now considered polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of several genera. An older name for gulls is mews, which is cognate with German Möwe, Danish måge, Swedish mås, Dutch meeuw, Norwegian måke/måse and French mouette, and can still be found in certain regional dialects.
The black-headed gull is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic including Europe and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but some birds reside in the milder westernmost areas of Europe. Small numbers also occur in northeastern North America, where it was formerly known as the common black-headed gull. As is the case with many gulls, it was previously placed in the genus Larus.
The Mediterranean gull is a small gull. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Ichthyaetus is from ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle", and the specific melanocephalus is from melas, "black", and -kephalos "-headed".
The laughing gull is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named for its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. The two subspecies are L. a. megalopterus — which can be seen from southeast Canada down to Central America — and L. a. atricilla, which appears from the West Indies to the Venezuelan islands. The laughing gull was long placed in the genus Larus until its present placement in Leucophaeus, which follows the American Ornithologists' Union.
The European herring gull is a large gull, up to 66 cm (26 in) long. Common in coastal regions of Western Europe, it was historically more abundant. It breeds across Northern Europe, Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and the Baltic states. Some European herring gulls, especially those resident in colder areas, migrate further south in winter, but many are permanent residents, such as in Ireland, Britain, Iceland, or on the North Sea shores. They have a varied diet, including fish, crustaceans, as well as some plants, and are also scavengers, consuming carrion and food left by or stolen from humans.
The great black-backed gull is the largest member of the gull family. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "the king of the Atlantic waterfront", it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic and is fairly sedentary, though some move farther south or inland to large lakes or reservoirs. The adult great black-backed gull has a white head, neck and underparts, dark grey wings and back, pink legs and yellow bill.
The ring-billed gull is a medium-sized gull. The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific delawarensis refers to the Delaware River.
The Caspian gull is a large gull and a member of the herring and lesser black-backed gull complex. The scientific name is from Latin. Larus appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and cachinnans means 'laughing', from cachinnare 'to laugh'.
The kelp gull, also known as the Dominican gull, is a gull that breeds on coasts and islands through much of the Southern Hemisphere. The nominate L. d. dominicanus is the subspecies found around South America, parts of Australia, and New Zealand. L. d. vetula is a subspecies occurring around Southern Africa.
Heermann's gull is a gull resident in the United States, Mexico and extreme southwestern British Columbia, nearly all nesting on Isla Rasa in the Gulf of California. They are usually found near shores or well out to sea, very rarely inland. The species is named after Adolphus Lewis Heermann, nineteenth-century explorer and naturalist.
The western gull is a large white-headed gull that lives on the west coast of North America and the Pacific Ocean. The western gull ranges from British Columbia, Canada, to Baja California, Mexico.
Belcher's gull, also known as the band-tailed gull, is a bird in the family Laridae found along the Pacific coast of South America. It formerly included the very similar Olrog's gull as a subspecies, but that bird occurs on the Atlantic coast of South America and is now accepted as Larus atlanticus. Belcher's gull is a medium-sized gull with a blackish mantle, white head and underparts, a black band on the otherwise white tail, and a yellow bill with a red and black tip. Non-breeding adults have a brownish-black head and a white eye-ring. The name of this bird commemorates the British explorer Sir Edward Belcher who performed survey work on the Pacific coast of South America.
The white-eyed gull is a small gull that is endemic to the Red Sea. Its closest relative is the sooty gull. The species is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN; human pressure and oil pollution are deemed the major threats. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.
Olrog's gull is a species of gull found along the Atlantic coast of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the very similar L. belcheri. It is a large gull with a black back and wings, white head and underparts, a black band in the otherwise white tail, and a yellow bill with a red and black tip. Nonbreeding adults have a blackish head and a white eye ring. The species is named after Swedish-Argentine biologist Claes C. Olrog. It has a rather restricted breeding range and is threatened by habitat loss, and the IUCN has rated it as being "near threatened".
The American herring gull or Smithsonian gull is a large gull that breeds in North America, where it is treated by the American Ornithological Society as a subspecies of herring gull.
The Liancourt Rocks, also known by their Korean name of Dokdo or their Japanese name of Takeshima, are a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, administered by South Korea. The Liancourt Rocks comprise two main islets and 35 smaller rocks; the total surface area of the islets is 0.187554 square kilometres and the highest elevation of 168.5 metres (553 ft) is on the West Islet. The Liancourt Rocks lie in rich fishing grounds that may contain large deposits of natural gas. The English name Liancourt Rocks is derived from Le Liancourt, the name of a French whaling ship that came close to being wrecked on the rocks in 1849.
Kabushima Shrine, located in Hachinohe, Aomori, is a Shinto shrine in Japan. It was first built in 1269 on top of the Kabushima island by fishermen to pray for safety and good harvest at sea. The shrine has been rebuilt several times throughout its history. It was burnt down in November 2015 and rebuilt in 2020.
Kabushima (蕪島) is a small island located in Hachinohe, Aomori, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. Part of the Tanesashi Coast, it was incorporated into the Sanriku Fukkō National Park from May 2013.
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