Mediterranean gull
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Larus melanocephalus aka Mediterranean Gull rare guest in Sweden2.jpg
| image_caption = Breeding plumage
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Ichthyaetus
| species = melanocephalus
| authority = (Temminck, 1820)
| synonyms = Larus melanocephalus
| range_map = LarusMelanocephalus.png
| range_map_caption = Range of I. melanocephalus{{leftlegend|#008000|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FF00|Resident|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}}
}}
File:Adulte zwartkopmeeuw-4961969.webm (2011)]]
The Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) is a small gull. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Ichthyaetus is from ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle", and the specific melanocephalus is from melas, "black", and -kephalos "-headed".{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages =[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n224 224], 246}}
This gull breeds almost entirely in the Western Palearctic, mainly in the south east, especially around the Black Sea, and in central Turkey. There are colonies elsewhere in southern Europe, and this species has undergone a dramatic range expansion in recent decades. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.
Description
The Mediterranean gull is slightly larger and bulkier than the black-headed gull with a heavier bill and longer, darker legs. The breeding plumage adult is a distinctive white gull, with a very pale grey mantle and wings with white primary feathers without black tips. The black hood extends down the nape and shows distinct white eye crescents. The sharp-tipped, parallel sided, dark red bill has a black subterminal band. The non breeding adult is similar but the hood is reduced to an extensive dusky "bandit" mask through the eye. This bird takes two years to reach maturity. First year birds have a black terminal tail band and more black areas in the upperwings, but have pale underwings.
Med gull southend.JPG|non-breeding plumage, UK
Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) non breeding in flight Vadu.jpg|non-breeding plumage, Romania
Larus melanocephalus.jpg|breeding plumage, Ukraine
Distribution
Formerly restricted to the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean this species has now expanded over most of Europe as far as Great Britain and Ireland, with 37 sites: 543–592 pairs in the United Kingdom in 2008, breeding in Scotland for the first time in 2023.{{cite journal |author=Daryl Short |year=2024 |title=Breeding Mediterranean Gills at Forvie NNR, Newburgh, Northeast Scotland 2023 |journal=Scottish Birds |volume=44 |issue=1 | pages=85-87}} In Ireland breeding has been recorded in at least four counties. Breeding has also occurred in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Balkans.
In winter, this bird migrates to Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.
Ecology
File:Larus melanocephalus MWNH 0341.JPG]]
This gull breeds in colonies in large reed beds or marshes, or on islands in lakes; where its population is small, it nests in black-headed gull colonies. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species, and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.
The Mediterranean gull's feeding habits are much an opportunistic omnivore, eating fish, worms, insects, eggs, young birds, offal and carrion.
This is a noisy species, especially at colonies, with a nasal "yeah" call.
Conservation
The Mediterranean gull is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
References
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External links
{{Commons category|Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}}
{{Wikispecies|Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}}
- {{BirdLife|22694443|Larus melanocephalus}}
- {{Avibase|name=Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}}
- {{InternetBirdCollection|mediterranean-gull-larus-melanocephalus}}
- {{VIREO|mediterranean+gull}}
- {{IUCN_Map|22694443|Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}}
- {{Xeno-canto species|Ichthyaetus|melanocephalus|Mediterranean gull}}
- {{field guide birds of the world|Ichthyaetus melanocephalus}}
- {{ARKive}}
{{Gulls}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q276189}}
{{Authority control}}
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