About the Glaucous-winged Gull
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 Neo-Latin for "glaucous" from the Ancient Greek, glaukos, denoting the grey color of its wings.
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ID tip
This gull is a large bird, being close in size and shape to the closely related Western gull (L. occidentalis). 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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in United Kingdom, China.
When to see it
Peak activity in January · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellisThe yellow-legged gull is a large gull, though the size does vary, with the smallest females being scarcely larger than a common gull and the largest males being roughly the size of a great black-backed gull.
Western GullLarus occidentalisThe western gull is a large white-headed gull that lives on the west coast of North America and the Pacific Ocean.
California GullLarus californicusAdults are similar in appearance to the herring gull, but with brown eyes, yellow legs, and a more rounded head.
Side by side: California Gull vs Glaucous-winged Gull · Glaucous-winged Gull vs Yellow-legged Gull
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