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Species › Birds

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Larus fuscus

Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Presence in the Strait
Seasonal
Abundance
common
IUCN (global)
LC · Least concern
In Spanish
Gaviota sombría

Marine taxonomy: validated in WoRMS, AphiaID 137142

Photograph: Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 3.0, vía Wikimedia Commons

Length
52–67 cm
Wingspan
128–148 cm
Weight
775–900 g
050100150LENGTH52–67 cmWINGSPAN128–148 cmcentimetres

Presence in the Strait

Common winter visitor to coasts (>800) with some birds summering.

Identification

Like the Great Black-backed Gull but smaller and with yellow legs, also similar to a Yellowlegged Gull but with a very dark-grey mantle. Two subspecies are present, L. f. graellsii and L. f. intermedius, which is somewhat smaller and has a even darker-grey mantle. Juveniles are similar to an Audouin´s Gull but with a streaked pattern on head, neck and breast, black bill, and in flight, paler secondary coverts and white tail with black sub-terminal band. Second-year birds have more uniform dark wings.

Movements

Peaks in 1st hf. March and 1st hf. September, and November for birds that arrive from further North.

Ring recoveries

United Kingdom (89), Norway (6), Holland (5), Faeroe Islands (2), Ireland (1), France (1) and Belgium (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Gallery

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.