Belgium (NB), Canada (B) (NB) (P), China (mainland), Denmark (NB), Estonia (NB), Faroe Islands (NB), Finland (NB) (P), France (NB) (P), Germany (NB), Greenland (B) (NB), Iceland (B) (NB), Ireland, Japan, Latvia (NB), Lithuania (NB), Mexico, Netherlands Antilles (NB), North Korea, Norway, Poland (NB), Romania (NB), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (NB), Russia (European) (B), Slovakia (Slovak Republic), South Korea, Spain (NB), St Pierre and Miquelon (NB) (P), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Sweden (NB), United Kingdom (NB), USA (B).
Vagrant to Austria, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malta, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 340,000 - 2,400,000 (2010).
Status LC
Organohalogen pollution in its Arctic breeding range appears to be the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Omnivorous. Eggs, young birds, fish, shellfish, insects and carrion. It is a predator, scavenger and food-pirate.
Voice
Short, high-pitched wailing and yapping calls.
Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) [XC406443]
by Jarmo Pirhonen from Barrow, North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States (song)
Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) [XC144011]
by Andrew Spencer from Nome City Dump, Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States (call)
Nest
Large pile of seaweed and debris on the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
3; smooth, buff, blotched and spotted dark brown; oval. Incubation: about 27 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Variously considered monotypic or polytypic; subspecific distinctions subtle. Subspecies leuceretes sometimes merged into nominate subspecies. Larus glaucus is a synonym for Larus canus.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
hyperboreus Gunnerus, 1767 - Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen east to Taymyr Peninsula.
pallidissimus Portenko, 1939 - Taymyr Peninsula east to Bering Sea, including Pribilof Is.
barrovianus Ridgway, 1886 - Alaska to western Canada (north-western Mackenzie region).
leuceretes Schleep, 1819 - Eastern Mackenzie region through northern Canadian archipelago to Greenland and Iceland.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet