California Gull
Larus californicus · Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Banding codeCAGU
Keys to identifying it
1Size & shape
About 20 in long.
2Color pattern
- Medium gull with gray back
- Greenish-yellow legs and dark eye
- Both a red and a black spot near the bill tip
3Habitat & season
Great Salt Lake, landfills, farm fields, parks
In northern Utah: year-round.
Seen most often in November.
Share of the region’s research-grade iNaturalist bird observations each month, scaled to this bird’s peak. Highlighted bars are its peak months.
4Voice
Squealing, laughing gull calls.
“kyow-kyow-kyow”
iNat 3380617 by Anne Parsons · Bay Trail, Sunnyvale, CA, US · CC0
Know it
- Utah's state bird, honored for helping pioneers during the 1848 cricket infestation.
- The largest colony of its species ever recorded nests at the Great Salt Lake.
- Feeds heavily on brine flies and brine shrimp at the lake.
- Has both a red and a black spot near the tip of its bill.
Often confused with
Ring-billed Gull- American Herring Gull
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
From iNaturalist identification data for northern Utah.
From Wikipedia
The California gull is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull, but larger on average than the ring-billed gull. Although named after California, it can be found annually across most of western North America, from the Canadian prairie provinces in the northeast and south through western Mexico.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0