Glaucous-winged Gull
Grown Bering Sea Gull
The Beringmöwe (Larus glaucescens ) is a large, monotypic species of the family of the seagulls. The IUCN classifies the Beringmöwe as an uncritical ( least concern ) and estimates the backlog at 570,000 mature individuals.
Appearance
The Beringmöwe reaches a body length of 58-63 centimeters. The wingspan is about 130 to 160 centimeters. The weight varies 850-1700 grams.
In breeding plumage Bering gulls have a white head. The beak is yellow with a red-orange spot at the tip of the beak. The beak inside is pink to purplish pink. The eyes are in relation to body size small and dark in color. The eye ring is pink to reddish. The jacket and the back are medium gray with a slightly bluish tint. The fuselage and tail are white. The body base is also white. In Plain dress the head, neck and the forechest is dashed brown. The bill is then matt yellow, the orange beak spot is usually absent. Although no subspecies are distinguished, the breeding birds of Siberia, however, are generally somewhat darker on the body top and have slightly longer wings.
Juveniles are gray-brown, the trunk and upper and lower tail-coverts are paler. The feathers of the mantle are brighter lined what the young birds is an easy geschupptes appearance. The beak is black. Only in the fourth year of life carry Beringmöwe the adult plumage. The Dunenküken are reddish light brown with dense dark spots on the body top.
Distribution area
The Beringmöwe breeds on the coasts of the Bering Strait. For breeding area include the southern and western Alaska, the south of Chukotka, Kamchatka and the Commander Islands. It breeds only very rarely inland. The Beringmöwe is a partial migrant and comes in the winter months on the North American coast to Baja California before and on the Asiatic coast to Japan.
Way of life
The Beringmöwe eats invertebrates, fish, and young birds and eggs. She is one of the main predators of the Auks, eats their eggs and provides among other things the young birds of Tufted Puffin, Taubenteiste, Zwergalk, Bartalk, Aleutenalk and Rotschnabelalk after. In addition, it also eats carrion. In Siberia, it is known that it follows Walrossjägern to eat the entrails of slain animals.
The Beringmöwe broods occasionally singly, but usually in small colonies. She enters into a monogamous pair bond, but there are regular matings with other conspecifics. The nest is built on the bare ground and built of Tang. The actual Nistmulde is lined with grass and feathers. The nest usually consists of two or three eggs. These have a pale greenish or olivene color and have dark brown spots on. The incubation period is 26 to 29 days. Both parents birds breed and are involved in the rearing of the chicks. The chicks fledge after 37 to 53 days. Bering gulls nest at the earliest at the age of four years.