Yellow-legged Gull In Riomaggiore, Italy
Italy
Southern and Western Europe
One of the few wild animals captured on my trip to Italy unless you include the wild tourists everywhere. This bird was visiting on one of the steep cliffs down by the marina.
I originally did not know what type of gull this was, and someone told me it was a herring gull. One of my other contacts said this was a yellow-legged gull. Looking up the bird on Wikipedia, I determined it was indeed a yellow-legged gull. They seem to be mainly found around the Mediterranean area of Europe.
The yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of either the Caspian gull L. cachinnans, or more broadly as a subspecies of the herring gull L. argentatus.
The breeding range is centered on the Mediterranean Sea. In North Africa, it is common in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and increasing in places. Recent breeding has occurred in Libya and Egypt. In the Middle East, a few breed in Israel Palestine and Syria with larger numbers in Cyprus and Turkey. In Europe, there are colonies all along the Mediterranean coast, and also on the Atlantic islands and coasts north to Brittany and west to the Azores. It also breeds on the western side of the Black Sea, with the yellow-legged gull preferring sea cliffs and the Caspian gull flatter shores. In recent decades birds have spread north into central and western Europe.
Many birds remain in the same area all year round, but others migrate to spend the winter in mild areas of western Europe or head south as far as Senegal, Gambia and the Red Sea. There is also extensive northward post-breeding dispersal in the late summer, with numbers in southern England high from July to October. – Wikpedia
Yellow-legged Gull In Riomaggiore, Italy
Italy
Southern and Western Europe
One of the few wild animals captured on my trip to Italy unless you include the wild tourists everywhere. This bird was visiting on one of the steep cliffs down by the marina.
I originally did not know what type of gull this was, and someone told me it was a herring gull. One of my other contacts said this was a yellow-legged gull. Looking up the bird on Wikipedia, I determined it was indeed a yellow-legged gull. They seem to be mainly found around the Mediterranean area of Europe.
The yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of either the Caspian gull L. cachinnans, or more broadly as a subspecies of the herring gull L. argentatus.
The breeding range is centered on the Mediterranean Sea. In North Africa, it is common in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and increasing in places. Recent breeding has occurred in Libya and Egypt. In the Middle East, a few breed in Israel Palestine and Syria with larger numbers in Cyprus and Turkey. In Europe, there are colonies all along the Mediterranean coast, and also on the Atlantic islands and coasts north to Brittany and west to the Azores. It also breeds on the western side of the Black Sea, with the yellow-legged gull preferring sea cliffs and the Caspian gull flatter shores. In recent decades birds have spread north into central and western Europe.
Many birds remain in the same area all year round, but others migrate to spend the winter in mild areas of western Europe or head south as far as Senegal, Gambia and the Red Sea. There is also extensive northward post-breeding dispersal in the late summer, with numbers in southern England high from July to October. – Wikpedia