Vega Gull Life History

Habitat

Vega Gull is primarily a coastal species, but it also occurs inland in forest, tundra, agricultural, and urban habitats. It nests on or near open water in settings including coastal cliffs, rocky and grassy islands, sandy beaches, gravel bars, saltmarshes, and building tops. This species forages on coastal waters close to shore and travels inland to forage and roost in open areas such as fields, parking lots, and airports.

Food

Vega Gulls have a varied diet, preying on fish, mollusks, crustaceans, insects, earthworms, mammals, and young and adult seabirds. They also feed on berries, carrion, discarded fish, bycatch from fishing and lobster boats, and garbage.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Presumably on the ground, as in the similar American Herring Gull and European Herring Gull.

Nest Description

Built with moss, dry grass, and some feathers, with driftwood or twigs sometimes added. Otherwise presumably similar to the simple ground scrapes created by American Herring Gull and European Herring Gull.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Vega Gulls often nest singly or in small colonies. Their breeding behavior is likely similar to American Herring Gull and European Herring Gull, in which pairs mate for life, and both pair members incubate eggs and raise the young. Vega Gulls are like many other large gulls, tolerating or even thriving in human-impacted areas. They follow fishing boats and raid dumpsters for free handouts, loiter in fields and parking lots, and even nest atop buildings.

Conservation

Vega Gull’s conservation status as a distinct species has not been evaluated. The International Union for Conservation of Nature treats Vega Gull, American Herring Gull, and Mongolian Gull as a single species, under the name “Arctic Herring Gull,” and lists its conservation status as Least Concern.

Credits

Ayyash, A. (2024) The Gull Guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

BirdLife International. 2019. Larus smithsonianus (amended version of 2018 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T62030590A155596462. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T62030590A155596462.en.

Brazil, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Eastern Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK.

Dement’ev, G. P., N. A. Gladkov, and E. P. Spangenberg (1969). Birds of the Soviet Union. Vol. 3. Israel Program for Science Translation, Jerusalem, Israel.

Lehman, P. E. (2019). The Birds of Gambell and St. Lawrence Island, Alaska (Studies of Western Birds Book 4). Western Field Ornithologists, Camarillo, California.

Malling Olsen, K., and H. Larsson. (2003). Gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.

Weseloh, D. V., C. E. Hebert, M. L. Mallory, A. F. Poole, J. C. Ellis, P. Pyle, and M. A. Patten (2024). Vega Gull (Larus vegae), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney and S. M. Billerman, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.veggul1.01

Back to top