Gulls or seagulls with their common name are from Laridae family. They are some relatives with bird families like waders. Seagulls are mostly typical appearance. They are mostly white or grey. Webbed feet and longish bill are also typical. They are carnivores. They most feed with crabs and small fishes. They mostly live in seaside but there are some kinds living in insider areas. They mostly live 30 to 40 years. Herring Gull lives over 50 years mostly. They mostly live in colonies and makes sound. There are lots of researches about their intelligence levels but today it’s known that seagulls have complicated communication systems. They attack and harm mostly in colonies. How many kinds of seagulls are there?
There are 11 different genus categorizing for seagulls and 55 kinds of seagulls are accepted scientifically. It’s possible to find different kinds of seagulls on all sea border countries and they are mostly evolved by the climate of their country.
European Herring Gull is one of the most common seagull kinds mostly possible in Europe and Mediterranean. Only little part of European Herring Gulls is weaverbird but big part of them are permanent residents. Typical feature of them are their yellow bills with red spots. They are mostly aggressive. They live mostly by stealing eggs from nestles and from other seagulls hunts. It’s forbidden to hunt seagulls in England. They are mostly a symbol of British costs today. European Herring Gull became a professional on drilling bin bags after hunt prohibition so municipalities mostly distribute hard to drill bin bags.
Dolphin Gull is the native seagull of South America. They are mostly seen on Chile, Falkland Islands and Argentina. Unique grayish feathers are the characteristic of this gull kind. They eat mostly carrion or mussels. Especially Falkland Islands sometimes use the as the symbol of island in touristic advertisements.
Ivory Gull is a unique type and its single member of Genus Pagophila family. North America is Ivory Gull’s mainland and it’s known with characteristic snow white feathers. Their biggest colonies are in Canadian Arctic and Seymour Island. It mostly eats fishes and migrates in short distances. They like to follow polar bears and eat what they left.
The Armenian Gull mostly found in Middle East. They are characteristically large and have a short bill. Also black band on tail is possible on The Armenian Gull. Their largest colonies are in Lake Sevan and Lake Arpi of Armenia. They rarely migrate and longest migration distant of them is Cyprus. Armenia mostly uses them as the face of stamps.
Swallow-tailed Gull is a unique open sea hunter of Gull family. They like to hunt on warmer seas. Swallow-tailed Gull is characteristic with its nocturnal hunting ability. It’s the only one seagull and seabird on the world hunts totally nocturnal. They mostly eat squid and fishes. Swallow-tailed Gull’s eyes are bigger than other seagulls for hunting in night. Also researches showed that Swallow-tailed Gulls have different melatonin system than other birds. Standard birds sleep when their melatonin levels are high but this kind of seagulls doesn’t sleep.
Red-Billed seagulls are native to New Zealand. They are typical with their deep red bills. Red-Billed seagulls are very rare because they have no difference between male and female types. They mostly live in colonies and make nestles in beaches. They mostly live over 10 years.
They are lots of researches on seagulls because they are one of the most important creature types that are capable to use tools by its intelligence. For example they can use baits to catch fishes. They also know how to travel on whales without disturbing them.