OzAnimals.com
Australian Wildlife

  Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus)





Kelp Gull | Larus dominicanus photo
Kelp Gull

Image by Jon Sullivan - License: Public Domain.    (view image details)

Kelp Gull | Larus dominicanus photo
Kelp Gull

Photograph copyright: Nickolay Tilcheff - all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Kelp Gull | Larus dominicanus photo
juvenile Kelp Gull

Photograph copyright: Nickolay Tilcheff - all rights reserved. Used with permission.







KELP GULL FACTS

Description
Body white, except for black wings and back. Bill yellow with a small red spot at tip on the lower bill. Legs yellow. Young birds brown with mottled pale brown on upperparts and a dark brown bill. Body up to 60 cm long.

Kelp Gulls attain their adult plumage when about four years old. They are often gregarious and noisy. Kelp Gulls are known to break open molluscs by dropping them onto rocks from above. Kelp Gulls were first recorded as a vagrant to Australia in 1928 but have since established breeding populations within Australia.

Author credit: Museum Victoria Sciences Staff / Museum Victoria

Habitat
Coastal areas and offshore islands.

Food
Carnivore

Range
South-western and south-eastern mainland Australia and Tasmania.

distribution map showing range of Larus dominicanus in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.


Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.




Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:Laridae
Genus:Larus
Species:dominicanus
Common Name:Kelp Gull

Relatives in same Genus
  Laughing Gull (L. atricilla)
  Black-tailed Gull (L. crassirostris)
  Silver Gull (L. novaehollandiae)
  Pacific Gull (L. pacificus)
  Franklins Gull (L. pipixcan)
  Black-headed Gull (L. ridibundus)