Habitat
Breeds in tundra, marshy areas, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, islands, and coastal cliffs. Winters in nearshore waters and coasts, river estuaries, beaches, mudflats, harbors, and sewage outlets and treatment ponds.
Albania (NB), Algeria, Austria (B) (NB), Azerbaijan (NB) (P), Belarus (B) (NB), Belgium (B) (NB), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria (NB), Canada (NB) (P), China (mainland), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (NB), Cyprus (NB), Czech Republic (B) (NB), Denmark (B) (NB) (P), Egypt, Estonia (B) (NB), Faroe Islands (B) (NB), Finland (B) (NB) (P), France (B) (NB) (P), Georgia (NB), Germany (B) (NB) (P), Gibraltar (NB), Greece (NB), Hungary (B) (NB), Iceland (B) (NB), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (NB), Iraq (NB), Ireland (B) (NB), Israel, Italy (NB), Japan, Jordan (NB), Kazakhstan (B), Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan (NB), Latvia (B) (NB), Lithuania (B) (NB), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (NB), Mexico, Moldova [Republic of] (B) (NB) (P), Mongolia, Montenegro (NB), Netherlands Antilles (B) (NB), North Korea, Norway (B) (P), Oman (NB), Palestinian Authority Territories (NB), Poland (B) (NB) (P), Portugal (NB), Romania (NB) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (P), Russia (European) (B) (P), Serbia (NB), Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B) (NB) (P), Slovenia (NB), South Korea, Spain (NB), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Sweden (B) (NB), Switzerland (B) (NB), Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey (NB), Turkmenistan (E) (B), Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), United Kingdom (B) (NB), USA (B), Vietnam.
Vagrant to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Gambia, Greenland, Hong Kong (China), India, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates.
Unknown to Palau.
Population
Estimated population is 2,500,000 - 3,700,000 (2010).
Common Gull (Larus canus) [XC788922]
by Guido O. Keijl from Castricum, Castricum, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (call)
Common Gull (Larus canus) [XC748205]
by Irish Wildlife Sounds from Ballycotton, County Cork, Ireland (nocturnal flight call)
Nest
A shallow scrap on the ground or in a tree, lined with plant material. In colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 5, usually 3, sometimes only 1 or 2; smooth, variable, pale blue-green, olive, buff or various shades of brown, blotched and spotted with darker brown; oval. . Incubation: about 22 - 26 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semiprecocial. Fledge in about 30 - 35 days.
Subspecies
Sometimes considered to form a superspecies with Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). Subspecies kamtschatschensis sometimes treated as a separate species, but interbreeds with heinei in Siberia.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
canus Linnaeus, 1758 - Iceland and British Is east to White Sea. Winters from Europe to northern Africa and Persian Gulf.
heinei Homeyer, 1853 - Russia, from Kanin Peninsula and Moscow area east to north-central Siberia (R Lena). Winters in south-eastern Europe and at Black and Caspian Seas.
brachyrhynchus Richardson, 1831 - Northern Alaska and northern Mackenzie south to southern British Columbia and northern Saskatchewan. Winters south to California. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Short-billed Gull (Larus brachyrhynchus).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9