GULLS and Allies of Australasia
Gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, puffins, and their allies belong to the order Charadriiformes and suborder Lari. In general they take food from the sea. Charadriiformes also contains the sandpipers, plovers and their allies. They are in suborder Charadrii and often feed along the shoreline. It is a matter of debate whether the coursers and pratincoles belong with the gulls or with the sandpipers.
Gulls
Order Charadriiformes Suborder Lari Family Laridae
Gulls are most closely related to the terns . Gulls are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls, stout, longish bills, and webbed feet. Gull species range in size from 29-76 cm. Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. Live food often includes crabs and small fish. Gulls have unhinging jaws which allow them to consume large prey. Apart from the kittiwakes, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea. large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two years is typical for small gulls. Gulls are resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent birds, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. [abstracted from Wikipedia]
Genus Chroicocephalus
Gull, Black-billed Chroicocephalus bulleri Endemic to New Zealand
Photographed by: 1, 2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels
4) Juvelnile (identified by Charlie Westerinen)
Gull, Red-billed Chroicocephalus scopulinus Found: New Zealand
Photographed by: 1, 2, 3, 4) Tony Wills in Petone, Wellington,
Gull, Silver Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae Found: Australia, New Zealand
Photographed by: 1, 2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels - Australia 5) Arthur Chapman
Genus Larus
Gull, Kelp aka Southern Black-backed Gull Larus dominicanus Found: The Americas, Africa, Australia, New Zealand
Southern equivalent to the Lesser Black-back
4) dFaulder - Isla Magdalena, Chile 6) Dario Sanches - Brazil
5) Juvenile
Gull, Pacific Larus pacificus Found: Australia
Photographed by: 1) melbournian1 - Sandringham beach 2) Chensiyuan - Melbourne 3) Dick Daniels - Featherdale Wildlife Park in Australia
3) Juvenile
Genus Leucophaeus
New World gulls. All have white crescents above and below the eyes.
Gull, Franklin's Leucophaeus pipixcan Found: The Americas, vagrant to Europe, Africa, Australia
Photographed by: 1) Aviceda - SE Queensland, Australia
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Please contact Dick Daniels to determine whether specific photos can be copied.
Please contact Dick Daniels to determine whether specific photos can be copied.