American Herring Gull

BirdNote^®
American Herring Gull
Written by Ariana Remmel

This is BirdNote.

[American Herring Gull calling with flock, ML133311]

With white and grey feathers, a piercing stare, and noisy screams, the American Herring Gull is what most folks might call a "seagull" — but you’re likely to see these gulls far from shore, too.

[American Herring Gull calling, ML102781221]

The American Herring Gull is one of four nearly-identical species found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including the European Herring Gull, Vega Gull, and Mongolian Gull. In fact, ornithologists once lumped them all together under the single species name Herring Gull until 2024 when scientists found key differences in their genetics, appearance, and vocalizations. Just as raucous and hefty as its cousins, you can find American Herring Gulls from Alaska to Puerto Rico, squabbling over table scraps at an inland landfill or scarfing down french fries by the beach.

[American Herring Gull with chicks ML165927]

It takes juvenile herring gulls four years to grow into their iconic adult plumage. You can tell the youngsters apart from their elders by their speckled, grey-brown body feathers. But even young birds can compete with the adults in size and volume. American Herring Gulls are about two feet long from beak to tail with a nearly 6-foot wingspan that's perfect for soaring across land and sea.

For BirdNote, I'm Michael Stein.

This episode is sponsored by Laura Potash of Roslyn, Washington.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Herring Gull ML133311 recorded by Martha Fischer. American Herring Gull ML102781221 recorded by Jay McGowan. American Herring Gull ML165927 recorded by Sarah MacLean.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote May 2025
Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# AHGU-01-2025-05-12        Show ID: AHGU-01

Reference:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Herring_Gull/overview
https://science.ebird.org/en/use-ebird-data/the-ebird-taxonomy/2024-ebird-taxonomy-update
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/amhgul1/cur/systematics