Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Monday, 12 September 2016

YELLOW LEGGED GULL (Larus michahellis subspecies L. m. michahellis) adult at Palaiochora Harbour, Palaiochora, Crete, Greece


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Click external link here for detailed species information
 Click external link here to see distribution map and to hear calls
 
The Yellow Legged Gull (Larus michahellis) is of the family Laridae which is in the genus Larus. Up until recently it was considered as a race of Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) but has now been given full species status. Post breeding populations disperse north and east. From July onward it occurs in good numbers in southern Britain but is an uncommon and scarce species in Ireland.
 
There are two subspecies recognised:
  • Larus michahellis michahellis - breeds in parts of western and southern Europe, as well as the Mediterranean Basin.  
  • Larus michahellis atlantis - known as Atlantic Gull, breeds on the Atlantic coasts of France, Iberia, Morocco, Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores where a dark headed form occurs.
 Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds
 
Yellow Legged Gull (Larus michahellis) distribution map
 

  Year round resident        Breeding        Non breeding-winter
 
Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons