page_title: Glaucous-winged gull
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Glaucous-winged gull / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Orininally posted by parande
context_page_description: The glaucous-winged gull is a large, white-headed gull. The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific glaucescens is New Latin for "glaucous" from the Ancient Greek, glaukos. English "Glaucous" denotes a bluish-green or grey colour.
context_section_description: This gull is a large bird, being close in size to the herring gull, with which it has a superficial resemblance, and the western gull, to which it is likely most closely genetically related. It measures 50–68 cm (20–27 in) in length and 120–150 cm (47–59 in) in wingspan, with a body mass of 730–1,690 g (1.61–3.73 lb). It weighs around 1,010 g (2.23 lb) on average. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 39.2 to 48 cm (15.4 to 18.9 in), the bill is 4.6 to 6.4 cm (1.8 to 2.5 in) and the tarsus is 5.8 to 7.8 cm (2.3 to 3.1 in). It has a white head, neck, breast, and belly, a white tail, and pearly-gray wings and back. The ends of its wings are white-tipped. Its legs are pink and the beak is yellow with a red subterminal spot (the spot near the end of the bill that chicks peck in order to stimulate regurgitative feeding). The forehead is somewhat flat. During the winter, the head and nape appears dusky, and the subterminal spot becomes dark. Young birds are brown or gray with black beaks, and take four years to reach adult plumage.
  The glaucous-winged gull nests in the summer, and each pair produces two or three chicks which fledge at six weeks.
  It feeds along the coast, scavenging for dead or weak animals, fish, mussels and scraps. In urban areas it is well known for its tendency to accept food from people and peck open unprotected garbage bags in search of edibles. 
  Its cry is a low-pitched "kak-kak-kak" or "wow", or a more high-pitched wailing.
caption: Glaucous-winged gull, juvenile
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