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California Gull Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Long calls
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Utah, May 19, 2013Recorded by Bob McGuire / Macaulay Library
Calls
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Utah, June 13, 1961Recorded by Robert C. Stein / Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, May 17, 2013Recorded by Bob McGuire / Macaulay Library
Calls
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Utah, June 16, 1961Recorded by Randolph Little / Macaulay Library
Calls
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Washington, September 10, 2012Recorded by Andrew Spencer
Calls
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California, June 06, 2006Recorded by Dave Herr / Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Calls

California Gulls do not have true songs, but they are quite vocal; they cry and carry on even at night on their breeding colonies. Their calls consist of a scratchy, hoarse series of aow and uh-uh-uh notes. They have several types of calls with corresponding unique behaviors including the "long call," "choking call," "warning call," and "alarm call." The "long call" given during territorial defense starts with their heads lowered and as they raise their heads straight up they bellow out an aow. During the "choking call" they put their breast on the ground and jerk their head up and down as if they were choking while giving a huoh-houh-houh. They give the "choking call" most frequently before and during nest building. The "warning call" is a long ringing yeow, given in flight, especially when they flush from a breeding colony. The "alarm call" is a series of sharp ha ha ha ha notes that they give in flight, often when they detect a predator. Compared to Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, their calls are intermediate in pitch—Ring-billed Gulls are higher pitched and Herring Gulls are lower pitched.

Compare with Similar Species

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Ring-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull

American Herring Gull

American Herring Gull

American Herring Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Short-billed Gull

Short-billed Gull

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Species in This Family

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers(Order: Charadriiformes, Family: Laridae)

Black-legged Kittiwake

Bonaparte's Gull

Black-headed Gull

Franklin's Gull

Short-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Yellow-footed Gull

Heermann's Gull

American Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

California Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Slaty-backed Gull

Gull-billed Tern

Browse Species in This Family

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