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Polar Bears symbolize the icy landscapes of the far north like no other animal. The bear's way of life — its very survival — is inseparable from the Arctic pack-ice. Less familiar is a remarkable bird that shares with the Polar Bear this vital link to ice: this Ivory Gull. The gulls feed on small fish and other marine life, but also scavenge carcasses, including those left by Polar Bears. Global warming has brought increasing change to the world of ice-dependent species such as the Ivory Gull and Polar Bear.
BirdNote®
Ivory Gulls and Polar Bears
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[Polar Bear growls, roars, or snorts]
Polar Bears symbolize the icy landscapes of the far north like no other animal. The bear’s way of life — its very survival — is inseparable from the Arctic pack-ice. Less familiar is a remarkable bird that shares with the Polar Bear this vital link to ice: the Ivory Gull.
[Ivory Gull calls]
Just as Polar Bears are clad in white fur, Ivory Gulls are feathered entirely in white, adapted to the whiteness of their world. Long winged and graceful in flight, Ivory Gulls breed on the northernmost islands of the Canadian Arctic and other High Arctic sites.
[Ivory Gull calls]
They spend the winter near the pack-ice. The gulls feed on small fish and other marine life, but also scavenge carcasses, including those left by Polar Bears.
[Polar Bear snorts]
As a Polar Bear consumes the choice parts of a seal...
[Polar Bear snorts]
...Ivory Gulls wait at the edge of the action, intent on sharing the leftovers.
[Ivory Gull calls]
Global warming has brought increasing change to the world of ice-dependent species such as the Ivory Gull and Polar Bear. This white gull, like the white bear, represents an entire ecosystem at risk, as the extent and the thickness of sea ice is decreasing.
There’s more on our website at BirdNote.org. I’m Mary McCann.
###
Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Sounds of the Ivory Gull provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by Stewart D. MacDonald. Polar Bear sounds courtesy of B.J. Kirschhoffer.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org November 2011/2015/2021/2024 & December 2025
Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# SotB-IVGU-01-2011-11-29 SotB-IVGU-01
Bob Sundstrom
Writer