Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) lives in coastal marine islands and intertidal zones across West coast of North America. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
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A real field recording of the Western Gull, made in the wild.
The biggest western gull colony sits on the Farallon Islands, about 26 mi (40 km) west of San Francisco, a living city of gulls on a single rock outcrop. Young gulls need four years to grow their full adult plumage, a slow makeover that mirrors the time it takes a teenager to finish high school.
Western gulls never dive; they feed exclusively on the water's surface, snatching fish, krill, squid and jellyfish right off the sea. On land they turn scavengers, eating seal carcasses, roadkill, and even pilfering milk straight from an elephant seal's teat. Their boldness extends to stealing meals from other birds, they'll snatch fish from a cormorant's or pelican's beak and have been recorded killing ducklings and pigeons.
Western gulls stay close to the ocean, rarely traveling more than about 100 miles inland, which ties their life cycle tightly to coastal ecosystems. They breed year-round in California, Oregon, Baja California and southern Washington, but migrate north to British Columbia and farther south to Baja California Sur for the non-breeding season.
At San Francisco's Oracle Park, thousands of western gulls swoop in during the late innings, dumping droppings on fans and scavenging leftover hot-dogs, a spectacle that costs the Giants $8,000 per game if they hire a falconer to scare them away. Federal law bans shooting the birds, so the team must live with the nuisance. This clash shows how a species once driven from urban areas by lighthouse keepers now exploits human gatherings, turning a beloved sport into a daily wildlife management challenge.
A western gull can stretch up to 68 cm long and span 144 cm across its wings, weighing as much as 1,400 g. A survey of 48 individuals found an average mass of 1,011 g, showing most birds sit near the middle of that range.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
HabitatCoastal marine islands and intertidal zones
DietFish and crustaceans
About the Western Gull
As the western gull soars over the crashing surf, its piercing cry echoes through the salty air, a haunting serenade to the rugged coastline it calls home. With wings outstretched, it rides the updrafts of warm air, its feathers glistening like polished slate as it surveys its kingdom with an air of nonchalant dominance. In a fluid dance of power and precision, the western gull dives and swoops, its sharp eyes scanning the waves for the telltale glint of fish scales, a master of the ocean's edge.
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