Ivory Gull

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The Ivory Gull, Pagophila eburnea, is a small gull, the only species in its genus. It breeds in the high arctic and has a circumpolar distribution through Greenland, northernmost North America, and Eurasia.

Related Topics:
Gull - Arctic - Greenland - North America - Eurasia

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It migrates only short distances south in autumn, most of the population wintering in northern latitudes at the edge of the pack ice, although some birds reach more temperate areas.

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This species is easy to identify. It has a different, more pigeon-like shape than the Larus gulls, but the adult has completely white plumage, lacking the grey back of other gulls The thick bill is blue with a yellow tip, and the legs are black.

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Young birds have a dusky face and variable amounts of black flecking in the wings and tail. The juveniles take two years to attain full adult plumage.

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Ivory Gull breeds on arctic coasts and cliffs, laying one to three eggs in a ground nest. It takes fish and crustaceans, but is also an opportunist scavenger, often found on seal or porpoise corpses.

Related Topics:
Fish - Crustacean - Seal - Porpoise

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