Click on the Yellow-Footed Gull to view a larger image. |
DISTINGUISHING MARKS
27” (69 cm). This large gull closely resembles the Western Gull, but the adult has yellow (not pinkish) feet. It matures in its third year, not the fourth, as the Western Gull does. The brown juvenile bird has a whitish belly and by the first winter already has some black on the back. The yellow feet are attained by the second winter.
|
DISTRIBUTION
Breeding in western Mexico, this gull occurs in our area as a post-breeding visitor only at the Salton Sea. It would be casual or accidental anywhere else in California. Formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Western Gull.
HABITAT
Coastal waters, estuaries, beaches, piers, city waterfronts, lower reaches of the tidal rivers. |
