Hull urban birds. 11. Lesser Black-backed Gull

A Lesser Black-backed Gull turned up at Pearson Park today (above), the first I've seen there this year. Lesser Black-backed Gulls are stunning gulls, with a slaty black back and wings. The legs and bill are yellow and they have a red ring around the eye, which is only visible at close quarters, and a red spot near the tip of the bill. They are slightly smaller in size than Herring gulls, and have proportionally longer wings, which makes them look slimmer than Herring Gulls.

An adult Black-backed gull.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying to roost or a migratory movement? 5/04/2015.

A summer migrant 

Lesser Black-backed Gulls are common summer visitors in Hull, although a few may be found year round, particularly near the Humber. They have been back for about a week now, after  travelling from the Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula and NW Africa, although since the 1980s they increasingly winter in  the south of the UK. At Hull most records come from March to September, peaking in May. A proportion of individuals return to breed to the same site where they were born.

A pair of Lesser Black-backed gulls atop the new bridge over the lake at Pearson Park, 11/03/2020.

Urbanites

Lesser Black-back gulls are one of the gull species that have in recent decades taken to breed on urban roofs, safe from ground predators like foxes. They appear to have a preference for flat industrial building roofs, rather than chimney stacks, like Herring gulls. These nest locations, usually not visible from the ground makes it hard to census this gull or assess their breeding success. I have never seen a nest or chicks, despite many pairs settling to breed across town. 

Lesser Black-backed gull on an industrial roof at Wilcolmlee. 27/02/2021.

Grabbing a bite

Despite their liking for towns and cities, satellite tracking has shown that the gulls will travel far and wide to collect food, either to the coast or to fields, where they hunt for worms and other invertebrates. Gulls breeding in towns don't necessarily indicate that they feed in the towns or landfill sites, although a few individuals will hang around parks for some scraps, or in the case of some individuals, to predate chicks from other birds such as ducklings and other water birds. 

This individual waited for a moorhen chick to wander away from the adults to catch it. It swallowed it whole. The moorhens didn't raise any chicks last year, probably due to predation of this single gull. Pearson Park, 13/06/2020.

Trends and conservation

The Lesser Black-backed gull used to be a rare species in the UK. After a period of increase, there have been widespread declines since the turn of the century, at last in colonies nesting in natural habitats, so it is now considered a species of conservation concern and Amber listed in the UK. In Hull far less common than Herring Gulls, but widespread in the city, it can be seen almost anywhere.

Pair on a chimney stack, Hull city centre, 19/04/2020. 

A close up of the head of an adult.

An immature Lesser Black-backed gull. Immatures are much rarer in Hull than Herring gull immatures, and they are mostly 3 and 4 year old birds that appear late in the season, in May and June, probably searching for a suitable breeding area. Pearson Park, 19/05/2015.

One of the largest groups of Lesser Black-backed gulls I've seen in Hull. 2/06/2016.

A 4th year Lesser Black-backed Gull in winter plumage. Note the head and heck speckled with grey.

More information

BTO satellite tracking program for Lesser Black-backed gulls. Here.

Coulson, John C. 2019. Gulls. The New Naturalist Library. Collins. 478 pp.

BTO Bird Facts. Lesser Black-backed Gull.