Mediterranean Gull
Mediterranean Gulls have gone from being scarce visitors to our coasts to established breeders over the past few decades. A colony at Langstone Harbour in Hampshire has grown rapidly, reaching over 1,700 pairs in 2018, and gulleries now contain nesting 'Med Gulls' as far north as Fife. This bird is an adult in non-breeding plumage on Thorney Island in West Sussex, which probably came from the nearby Langstone colony.
My first Med Gull was an adult at North Shields Fish Quay in the early 1980s. Since then I've watched them become much commoner, and now their distinctive, slurred, mewing call can be heard across large areas of the country in spring.
How to identify Mediterranean Gulls
Adult Med Gulls differ from Black-headed Gulls in several ways:
- A heavier, brighter red bill, with a dark band towards the tip. The tip of the bill is often paler and yellowish.
- White wingtips on wings which show no dark plumage and no distinct white leading edge as on Black-headed.
- Larger size and stockier build than Black-headed.
- In breeding birds the hood is black (not chocolate-brown) and extends further down the neck than on Black-headed.
- In non-breeding birds (as the one shown here) there is a large smudge behind the eye (Black-headed tend to show a distinct spot).
- Distinctive mewing call, heard especially during the breeding season.
Juvenile gulls in general are more tricky to identify, but Med Gulls can be told from Black-headed by larger size, thicker, black bill, black legs and black (not white) leading edges to the wings.