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Great Black-backed Gull
This north Atlantic predator is the world's largest gull!
© Leon van der Noll CC
Great Black-backed Gulls have a reputation as serious predators of other birds like puffins, grebes, and songbirds as big as a grackle. Just over a century ago, these birds were nearly wiped out by feather hunters and egg collectors. And though their populations recovered with help from environmental protections, Great Black-backed Gulls are in decline once again — and scientists are still trying to figure out why.
BirdNote®
Great Black-backed Gull: Gull as Predator
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
A massive bird soars along the New England coastline, above nesting islands and cliffs inhabited by puffins and other seabirds. This bird’s broad, black wings measure more than five feet across, in bold contrast with its white head and tail. Its beak is long and thick.
A Bald Eagle might come to mind. But this is no eagle. It’s a Great Black-backed Gull, the world’s largest gull.
[Great Black-backed Gull pair calls]
Great Black-backed Gulls can be found on both sides of the North Atlantic. And their diet — like that of other large gulls — includes fish, squid and winter visits to landfills.
But it’s their reputation as serious predators of other birds that really sets this huge gull apart. During the nesting season, Great Black-backed Gulls prey on eggs and nestlings of other seabirds. They’ll also hunt adult seabirds, like puffins and grebes, and songbirds as big as a grackle.
[Great Black-backed Gull call]
Just over a century ago, these birds were nearly wiped out by feather hunters and egg collectors. And though their populations recovered with help from environmental protections, Great Black-backed Gulls are in decline once again — and scientists are still trying to figure out why.
[Great Black-backed Gull pair calls]
What we can say for certain is that this majestic gull that soars like an eagle is a marvel worth fighting for.
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: 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. Recorded by Dolly Minis and Bob McGuire. BirdNote’s theme composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2019 Tune In to Nature.org June 2019 & December 2023/2025
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# GBBG-01b-2019-06-26 GBBG-01b
Bob Sundstrom
Writer