GullsYellow-footed GullLarus livens
- ORDER: Charadriiformes
- FAMILY: Laridae
Basic Description
Yellow-footed Gulls are handsome seabirds—their dark gray upperparts, inky black wingtips, and bright yellow feet are a unique combination among North American gulls. The small population of just 40,000 breeding individuals nests exclusively on desert islands in Mexico's Gulf of California. These large, opportunistic gulls forage along shorelines and at sea, catching fish and marine invertebrates, raiding seabird colonies, and stealing food from other waterbirds. Following the breeding season, some Yellow-footed Gulls disperse annually to California’s Salton Sea.
More ID InfoOther Names
- Gaviota de Cortés (Spanish)
- Goéland de Cortez (French)
- Cool Facts
- Yellow-footed Gull was once considered a subspecies of Western Gull, but in 1982 ornithologists elevated it to a full species based on molt, plumage, and vocal differences.
- Yellow-footed Gull has the smallest estimated population of any North American gull, with just 40,000 breeding individuals nesting on islands in the Gulf of California.
- Yellow-footed Gull breeds only in Mexico’s Gulf of California, but since it first appeared in the U.S. in the 1960s, this species has become an annual visitor to California’s Salton Sea—the only reliable place to see it in the United States.