Vega Gull Photo Gallery

Breeding adult

A large, highly variable gull with a heavy bill. Breeding adult has bright yellow bill with red mark near tip, white head and underparts, and black wingtips with white spots. Upperparts range from medium to dark gray. Legs in breeding plumage are typically bright pink. Eye color is often dark but can be yellowish as in this individual.

Nonbreeding adult

Nonbreeding adult has variable streaking on the head, neck, and upper breast. Both the bill and legs are paler than in breeding adults.

Breeding adult

A large, heavy-billed gull. Breeding adult has white head and underparts, a yellow bill with red spot near tip, pink legs, gray upperparts, and black wingtips with limited white visible at rest.

Nonbreeding adult

Adult in flight has black wingtips with white tips to the feathers and two large white spots (“mirrors”) in the outermost primaries. Note also the fairly wide white trailing edge to the wings and the dusky underwings.

Juvenile

Juvenile has brown head and underparts with diffuse light markings. Brown upperpart feathers are heavily edged with buffy white, creating a scaly look. Note black bill, dark eye, blackish wingtips, and pale pink legs.

Nonbreeding adult

Nonbreeding adult is like breeding adult, but with streaking on head, neck, and upper breast. Typically occurs along the coast of East Asia during the winter.

Juvenile

In flight, note juvenile’s whitish rump (contrasting with brown tip to tail) and conspicuous pale “panel” in the inner primaries.

Juvenile

Breeds exclusively in northeastern Siberia except for a small nesting population on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, in the Bering Sea.

Breeding adult

An opportunistic forager and scavenger, feeding on garbage, carrion, fish, marine invertebrates, mammals, and other seabirds.

First summer

Individuals typically take four years to attain full adult plumage. First-summer birds are highly variable, showing a mix of juvenile plumage, new feathers on the head, back, and underparts, and older feathers that can be significantly bleached.