Common gull

Scientific name: Larus canus

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Medium-sized gull with pale grey back and wings, white head and underparts, and black wing tips with white spots. Adults show a small yellow-green bill and yellow-green legs; first-year birds are mottled brown with darker markings.

Size and weight

Adults typically weigh 300–500 g, with body length 35–41 cm; males average slightly larger than females.

Habitat

Common gulls inhabit coastal regions, inland lakes, reservoirs, and river systems across northern temperate zones. They favour open water with adjacent grassland, moorland, or agricultural areas for roosting and feeding.

Distribution

Breeds across northern Eurasia from Britain to Russia; winters from breeding range south to Mediterranean and North Africa. Found year-round on coast and inland waters where ice-free conditions permit.

Diet

Omnivorous scavenger feeding on fish, molluscs, crustaceans, insects, and terrestrial invertebrates; also takes small mammals, eggs, and food waste from human settlements.

Behaviour

Highly social, diurnal and crepuscular forager often seen in loose flocks of varying size. Restless and mobile, regularly shifting between feeding and roosting sites; vocal and alert with strong flight.

Hunting tips

Look for flocking patterns at dawn and dusk near water margins; search for accumulated droppings and regurgitated pellets along preferred roost lines. Approach from downwind across open ground using terrain folds; these birds flush easily so patience and concealment are essential. Most productive near dawn on calm days when birds are feeding in shallow margins or exposed mudflats.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 1 country in Huntify.

Sweden

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.