Yellow-footed Gull Life History

Habitat

Yellow-footed Gulls breed only on islands in the Gulf of California, where they nest at the upper edge of beaches or on rocky slopes. During both the breeding and nonbreeding seasons, they typically forage on beaches, in intertidal areas and harbors, and at sea (likely within a few kilometers of shore).

Food

Yellow-footed Gulls have a varied diet that includes fish, marine invertebrates (ranging from krill to squid), small adult seabirds, and the eggs and chicks of colonial-nesting waterbirds (including Heermann’s Gull, Brown Pelican, and Double-crested and Brandt’s Cormorants). They walk or swim slowly along shorelines, picking up and testing possible prey items. At sea, they capture prey a few different ways: by sitting on the water and dipping under the surface; by flying low over the water and then landing to grab an item; or hovering overhead and then making a shallow dive into the water. Individuals may forage alone, with groups of other Yellow-footed Gulls (ranging from 5–60 birds), or as part of mixed-species flocks. This species also scavenges fish, carrion, and garbage, and steals prey from other gulls, terns, and boobies.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Placed within 30 meters (98 feet) of high-tide line, usually just below the first line of vegetation. In colonies, nests are typically 6–15 meters (20–49 feet) apart, in rows that parallel the shoreline.

Nest Description

A bowl scraped into the ground and lined with seaweed, other vegetation, and feathers (from both the nesting pair and other birds).

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Most Yellow-footed Gulls nest in colonies of around 12–15 pairs (sometimes as many as 250), but about 25% of breeding birds nest solitarily. Both nesting approaches are equally successful: noncolonial breeders are more prone to predation by Common Ravens, but less susceptible to predation by humans. Yellow-footed Gulls are socially monogamous. Both pair members dig scrapes for potential nesting sites, and then the female chooses the actual nest and finishes building it. Both sexes incubate the eggs, brood young chicks, and feed the young until they are 11–12 weeks old.

Conservation

Partners in Flight estimates Yellow-footed Gull’s global population size at 40,000 breeding individuals and rates the species a 16 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a Yellow Watch List species of high conservation concern. In the past, people visiting Yellow-footed Gull breeding islands have disrupted breeding success by collecting eggs or causing parents to abandon the nests.

Credits

American Ornithologists’ Union (1982). Thirty-fourth supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union’s Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 99:1–16.

Dunne, P. (2006). Pete Dunne’s essential field guide companion. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, USA.

Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA.

Malling Olsen, K., and H. Larsson. (2003). Gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Patten, Michael A. (1996). Yellow-footed Gull (Larus livens), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA.

Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.

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