Gulls are heavily built seabirds with webbed feet, belonging to the family Laridae. They are conspicuous and gregarious birds, most abundant as breeders in the Northern Hemisphere, specifically in temperate to Arctic regions, with about 30 species. Gulls are mostly colonial ground nesters, and those that breed inland usually migrate to coasts in winter. Adaptable and opportunistic, gulls eat insects, mollusks, and crustaceans on beaches; worms and grubs in plowed fields; fish along shores; and garbage from ships. Some larger gulls eat eggs and young of other birds, including their own. The California gull is credited with saving the crops of early Mormon settlers in the Salt Lake City region from destruction by the Mormon cricket and is the state bird of Utah.

Where are gulls commonly found?

Gulls, members of the family Laridae, are commonly found in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in temperate to Arctic regions, where around 30 species breed. They are conspicuous and gregarious seabirds that are mostly colonial ground nesters. While most gulls that breed inland migrate to coastal areas in winter, some species, such as the kelp gull, have a wide-ranging presence in the Southern Hemisphere, including Antarctica. The herring gull, one of the most well-known Atlantic gulls, inhabits subarctic and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. After breeding, most herring gulls shift southward, with some traveling as far as Panama, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, India, and the central African coast.

What do gulls usually eat?

Gulls are adaptable, opportunistic birds with varied diets. They eat insects, mollusks, and crustaceans on beaches, worms and grubs from plowed fields, and fish along shores. As scavengers, gulls consume garbage from ships and food discarded by people. Some larger gulls are predators and will eat the eggs and young of other birds, even those of their own species. Gulls also hunt moles and rabbits, and they may crack open shellfish by dropping them from a height.

How can you tell different types of gulls apart?

Adult gulls are mainly gray or white, but their head markings vary. During the breeding season, the head can be pure white, black, gray, or brown; in winter, it becomes streaked or smudgy. Bill and leg colors, along with wing patterns, are key to telling species apart. For example, the black-headed gull has a dark head and crimson legs. Bonaparte’s gull has a black head and bill, a gray mantle, and pinkish to reddish legs. Juvenile plumage, frequently distinct from that of the adult bird, is often drab, streaked, or spotted, thus camouflaging the young. Most gulls, for example, are deep gray or brown during their first year and become increasingly white thereafter.

How do gulls communicate with each other?

Gulls, which are conspicuous and gregarious seabirds, use both visual and auditory signals to communicate with each other. They have a variety of vocalizations, including songs to attract mates and warn off rivals, and alarm notes to signal danger. Gulls also use ritualized threat and appeasement displays to establish and defend territories, which can sometimes lead to fighting. Examples of aggressive displays include the "oblique with long call," the silent "upright" threat posture, and "pecking the ground". In contrast, "facing away" is a display that helps to lessen aggressive feelings.

How have gulls adapted to living in cities and near humans?

Gulls have demonstrated remarkable adaptability to urban environments and proximity to humans. They are opportunistic feeders, consuming insects, mollusks, crustaceans, worms, and grubs. They also scavenge food discarded by people and garbage from ships. Their adaptability extends to nesting habits, as they are mostly colonial ground nesters but can also nest inland, often moving to coasts in winter. This behavioral flexibility allows them to thrive in urbanized areas where natural food sources may be limited.

Gull

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Western gull (Larus occidentalis) standing on a ledge, showing its white head and body, gray wings, yellow beak with a red spot, and pink legs.

A glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) with a white head and gray wings stands on driftwood with rocks in the background.

Illustration of a ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) showing a medium-sized bird with gray wings, white body, yellow legs, and a yellow bill marked with a black ring near the tip.

Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) standing on a rock, showing its gray wings, white head and body, yellow legs, and yellow beak against a pale blue background.

At a Glance

gull summary

Quick Facts

Related Topics:: Ross’s gull; great black-backed gull; swallow-tailed gull; Sabine’s gull; red-legged kittiwake

On the Web:: World Animal Rescue Network - Gull (Nov. 08, 2026)

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Gull

bird

Also known as: Larinae

Written by

Sy Montgomery

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 12, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is a gull?
Gulls are heavily built seabirds with webbed feet, belonging to the family Laridae. They are conspicuous and gregarious birds, most abundant as breeders in the Northern Hemisphere, specifically in temperate to Arctic regions, with about 30 species. Gulls are mostly colonial ground nesters, and those that breed inland usually migrate to coasts in winter.

Adaptable and opportunistic, gulls eat insects, mollusks, and crustaceans on beaches; worms and grubs in plowed fields; fish along shores; and garbage from ships. Some larger gulls eat eggs and young of other birds, including their own. The California gull is credited with saving the crops of early Mormon settlers in the Salt Lake City region from destruction by the Mormon cricket and is the state bird of Utah.
2 Britannica Sources
1. gull
2. charadriiform: Gulls (suborder Lari)
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Where are gulls commonly found?
Gulls, members of the family Laridae, are commonly found in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in temperate to Arctic regions, where around 30 species breed. They are conspicuous and gregarious seabirds that are mostly colonial ground nesters.

While most gulls that breed inland migrate to coastal areas in winter, some species, such as the kelp gull, have a wide-ranging presence in the Southern Hemisphere, including Antarctica. The herring gull, one of the most well-known Atlantic gulls, inhabits subarctic and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. After breeding, most herring gulls shift southward, with some traveling as far as Panama, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, India, and the central African coast.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What do gulls usually eat?
Gulls are adaptable, opportunistic birds with varied diets. They eat insects, mollusks, and crustaceans on beaches, worms and grubs from plowed fields, and fish along shores. As scavengers, gulls consume garbage from ships and food discarded by people.

Some larger gulls are predators and will eat the eggs and young of other birds, even those of their own species. Gulls also hunt moles and rabbits, and they may crack open shellfish by dropping them from a height.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How can you tell different types of gulls apart?
Adult gulls are mainly gray or white, but their head markings vary. During the breeding season, the head can be pure white, black, gray, or brown; in winter, it becomes streaked or smudgy. Bill and leg colors, along with wing patterns, are key to telling species apart.

For example, the black-headed gull has a dark head and crimson legs. Bonaparte’s gull has a black head and bill, a gray mantle, and pinkish to reddish legs. Juvenile plumage, frequently distinct from that of the adult bird, is often drab, streaked, or spotted, thus camouflaging the young. Most gulls, for example, are deep gray or brown during their first year and become increasingly white thereafter.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do gulls communicate with each other?
Gulls, which are conspicuous and gregarious seabirds, use both visual and auditory signals to communicate with each other. They have a variety of vocalizations, including songs to attract mates and warn off rivals, and alarm notes to signal danger.

Gulls also use ritualized threat and appeasement displays to establish and defend territories, which can sometimes lead to fighting. Examples of aggressive displays include the "oblique with long call," the silent "upright" threat posture, and "pecking the ground". In contrast, "facing away" is a display that helps to lessen aggressive feelings.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How have gulls adapted to living in cities and near humans?
Gulls have demonstrated remarkable adaptability to urban environments and proximity to humans. They are opportunistic feeders, consuming insects, mollusks, crustaceans, worms, and grubs. They also scavenge food discarded by people and garbage from ships.

Their adaptability extends to nesting habits, as they are mostly colonial ground nesters but can also nest inland, often moving to coasts in winter. This behavioral flexibility allows them to thrive in urbanized areas where natural food sources may be limited.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Gull, any of more than 40 species of heavily built web-footed seabirds of the gull and tern family Laridae (order Charadriiformes). Several genera are usually recognized for certain specialized gulls, but many authorities place these in the broad genus Larus. Conspicuous and gregarious, gulls are most abundant as breeders in the Northern Hemisphere, which has about 30 species in temperate to Arctic regions. They are mostly colonial ground nesters, and those that breed inland usually go to coasts in winter.

Adult gulls are mainly gray or white, with variable head markings. In breeding season the head is either pure white, black, gray, or brown; it becomes streaked or smudgy in winter. The bill is strong and slightly hooked and in some species shows a spot of colour. Bill and leg colours help to distinguish species, as do wing patterns.

Adaptable opportunists, gulls feed on insects, mollusks, and crustaceans on beaches; worms and grubs in plowed fields; fish along shores; and garbage from ships. Some of the larger gulls prey on the eggs and the young of other birds, including their own kind.

pigeon. pigeon and dove. member of the order Columbiformes, family Columbidae

Britannica Quiz

Ultimate Bird Trivia Quiz

herring gullHerring gull (Larus argentatus) in profile, showing the red spot on the lower edge of its bill.

The herring gull (L. argentatus) is by far the most familiar of the Atlantic gulls. A bird of the Northern Hemisphere, it has a gray mantle, flesh-coloured legs and feet, and black-and-white-spotted wing tips. It was rare at the turn of the century, a casualty of the millinery trade, which used bird feathers as decorations in women’s hats. Legal protection and open garbage dumps helped it stage a spectacular comeback. Today some conservationists worry about these gulls’ depredations on the nests of other shorebirds.

Herring gulls are scavengers as well as expert thieves, boldly stealing food from other birds and sometimes snatching sandwiches out of beachgoers’ hands. They also hunt moles and even rabbits, hovering over their holes waiting for the quarry to appear. Often they eat mollusks, whose hard shells they crack by flying over a hard surface and dropping them in flight.

The black-headed gull (L. ridibundus), a dark-headed bird with crimson legs, breeds in Eurasia and Iceland, winters south in India and the Philippines, and commonly feeds in fields, where its chief food is insects. Bonaparte’s gull (L. philadelphia), of North America, has a black head and bill, a gray mantle, and pinkish to reddish legs. It builds a stick nest in trees and hunts for insects over ponds. In the winter it may plunge into the sea for fish. The California gull (L. californicus) of North America breeds inland and winters on the Pacific coast. This species is credited with having saved the crops of early Mormon settlers in the Salt Lake City region from destruction by the Mormon cricket, a long-horned grasshopper; it is the state bird of Utah. Franklin’s gull (L. pipixcan) breeds in large colonies on inland marshes of North America and winters on the Pacific coast of South America.

The glaucous gull (L. hyperboreus) is mostly white with pinkish legs and a yellow bill with a red spot. It inhabits northern seas, but sometimes it winters as far south as Hawaii and the Mediterranean. The great black-backed gull (L. marinus), with a wingspread of 1.6 metres (63 inches), is the largest gull. It occurs on the coasts of the North Atlantic.

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The kelp gull (L. dominicanus) is a very wide-ranging black-backed species of the Southern Hemisphere, including Antarctica. The laughing gull (L. atricilla), a medium-sized bird with a black head, red bill, and red feet, often gives vent to a strident, laughing call. It breeds from Maine to northern South America and winters south in Brazil, often on fresh waters far inland. It is the only gull that breeds both in the Caribbean area and in the North Atlantic Ocean. With a wingspread of about 60 cm (24 inches), the smallest gull is the little gull (L. minutus), a black-headed species of Europe and occasionally North America.

The Pacific gull (L. pacificus) breeds in the region of Tasmania and southern Australia. The ring-billed gull (L. delawarensis) is common on inland lakes in North America and often gathers in large flocks to feed on plowed fields. The sooty gull (L. hemprichi) of the western Indian Ocean has a dark brown hood and a grayish brown mantle. Ross’s gull (Rhodostethia rosea) is an attractive pinkish white bird that breeds in northern Siberia and wanders widely over the Arctic Ocean. Abounding in the Arctic, Sabine’s gull (Xema sabini) has a forked tail and a habit of running and picking up food like a plover. The swallow-tailed gull (Creagrus furcatus) of the Galapagos Islands is a striking bird, the only gull with a deeply forked tail. (See also kittiwake.)

Sy Montgomery

Gull

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