ID Keys: Very dark mantle, completely white body, head, and tail,
yellow bill with red spot, pale yellowish to greenish-yellow legs
The
Kelp Gull has a wide geographic distribution, with populations found in
Australia, Africa, and South America. In North America, they are rare
visitors, with most records around the Gulf Coast. There have been
rare and scattered breeding records north of their normal range, including
one from coastal islands off of Louisiana. They are a species that can
be difficult to distinguish from some of the more common North American
species, such as the Lesser
Black-backed and Great
Black-backed Gulls, but the Kelp Gull is considered to have the darkest
mantle color of all of our gull species.
Habitat
Found around coastlines, not pelagic as
some gull species. They can be found in a variety of coastal habitats,
as well as some inland habitats along major water bodies and rivers.
Diet
Omnivorous, with food items including fish,
crustaceans, mollusks, marine worms, insects, eggs, young birds, small
rodents, and carrion and refuse.
Behavior
Uses a variety of foraging techniques
depending upon location and food item. They will follow fishing
vessels and other ships for offal and scraps, and will also visit areas such
as garbage dumps for refuse.
Nesting
A colonial nester. The nest is
built in rocky areas, on sandy shores, or among wetland vegetation, and is a
large structure built of seaweed and other vegetation. The female usually
lays 2 or 3 eggs, and both parents help to incubate them. Both parents
help raise the young after the eggs hatch.
Song
Has a hoarse kee-wah call.
Migration
Most populations of Kelp Gull are
considered to be relatively sedentary, with little consistent migration.
However, some birds at the far southern edge of their breeding ranges in the
southern Hemisphere may move northward for the winter.
