American herring gull: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the American herring gull lives – recorded in 14 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Larus smithsonianus
Group	Waders, gulls, terns & auks
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	14 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Mass	67 g (birth weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Charadriiformes
Family	Laridae

Where does the American herring gull live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the American herring gull in 14 countries and territories across Europe and North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is an American herring gull?

Wikidata records the following for the American herring gull: mass 67 g (birth weight).

Is the American herring gull endangered?

The American herring gull’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the American herring gull?

The American herring gull (Larus smithsonianus) is a bird in the order Charadriiformes and the family Laridae, genus Larus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the American herring gull

The American herring gull (Larus smithsonianus or Larus argentatus smithsonianus), also known as the Arctic herring gull or Smithsonian gull, is a large gull that breeds in North America, where it is treated by the American Ornithological Society as distinct from the European herring gull (Larus argentatus).

Adults are white with gray back and wings, black wingtips with white spots, and pink legs. Immature birds are gray-brown and are darker and more uniform than European herring gulls, with a darker tail. As is common with other gulls, they are colloquially referred to simply as seagulls.

It occurs in a variety of habitats including coasts, lakes, rivers, parking lots and garbage dumps. Its broad diet includes invertebrates, fish, and many other items. It usually nests near water, laying around three eggs in a scrape on the ground.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article American herring gull (revision 1380779580), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q469297 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).