Page 35 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

Gull glaucous-winged

(Larus glaucescens)

Large bald gull. The body length is 66 cm on average, the wingspan is
147 cm. The mantle and upper wings are gray-gray. The tips of the wings are
somewhat darker, smoky-gray, with white preapical spots on the outer primary
flight feathers. The rest of the plumage is white. The beak is yellow with a
red spot on the mandible. The legs are pink. In winter, the head and neck are
streaked with brown.
The gray-winged gull feeds on garbage from the seal trade, eggs and chicks of
birds, fish, marine invertebrates (hedgehogs, crabs, molluscs), and eats carrion.
The nesting area covers the coasts and islands of the northeastern Pacific
Ocean from northern Oregon to Alaska Bay, spreading westward across the
Aleutian and Commander Islands. It migrates in significant numbers through
the First Kuril Strait, meeting along the entire Kuril ridge during migration and
in winter, and in small numbers in summer. It is scarce along the southern and
eastern coasts of Sakhalin during the summer, winter and summer periods.

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