Olrog's Gull
Larus atlanticus
Large, dark-backed gull with a broad black band on a white tail. Breeding adults have mostly clean white bodies with black backs and wings. In the nonbreeding season, adults have a black hood and a broken white eye-ring. Immatures are very distinctive, with mottled gray-brown backs and brown breasts and heads with a white patch around the bill. Usually seen on the immediate coast, where it mostly eats crabs. During the austral winter, some migrate farther north.
Identification
Olrog's gull is a large gull with a white head, neck, rump, breast, and belly. The back and wings are black except for a white trailing edge to the wings. The tail is white with a broad black band at the back. The beak is yellow with a black band and red tip. The eyes are brown with a red orbital ring and the legs and feet are dull yellow. The length of this gull is 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24 in) and it has a wingspan of 130 to 140 cm (51 to 55 in). Males are a little larger than females. Juveniles have black heads and brownish plumage.
Taxonomy
Genus: Larus; Family: Laridae; Order: Charadriiformes.
- Scientific name
- Larus atlanticus
- Authority
- Olrog, 1958
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Larus
Range and habitat
Olrog's gull is native to the Atlantic coast of Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. It breeds at a very limited number of colonies between 38.49° and 45.11°S, about two-thirds of which are in the estuary of the Bahia Blanca River. It nests on the ground just above high-water mark, on low islands and islets. At other times, it is to be seen on rocky coasts, harbours, beaches, coastal lagoons, brackish water, and estuaries.
- Breeding range
- SA : coastal s Buenos Aires and Chubut provinces (ne, ec Argentina)
- Non-breeding range
- some move to coasts of se Brazil
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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