Short-Billed Gull
Larus brachyrhynchus
When I met this bird, it was named the Mew Gull (Larus canus), but as of 2021, the American Ornithological Society split the Mew Gull into three forms of the Common Gull (Larus canus) and the Short-Billed Gull (Larus brachyrhynchus), reverting to the name applied when first described in 1886.
The “Mew Gull” complex includes the European Common Gull (now Larus canus canus), the Russian Common Gull (now Larus canus heinei), and the Kamchatka Common Gull (now Larus canus kamtschatschensis).
Taxonomists regard the Short-Billed Gull as monotypic (i.e. there are no subspecies).
The Short-Billed Gull is smaller than most other “white-headed” gulls. These North American gulls are west coast specialists that breed inland in western Canada and Alaska, and spend winters on the Pacific coast from Alaska to northern Baja California. These Gulls often nest on the ground near water, but sometimes they nest in trees.
In December 2003, I was touring the central California coast in search of Northern Elephant Seals. A year earlier I discovered these amazing creatures at Piedras Blancas, a few miles north of San Simeon. My second visit provided me with a meeting of the year’s first-born baby seal on the beach. Never one to miss a chance to meet birds, among the first encounters on the visit were a rare (at the time) Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher, and my first Mew Gull. My 2005 expedition to Alaska provided many meetings with the birds we now call Short-Billed Gulls. During my 2022 expedition through western USA and Canada, I enjoyed their company in the southern Yukon Territory.
26 Photos
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Watson Lake, Yukon, Canada. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:14 15:02 |
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Location:
Wye Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 |
File Name: JCD4486MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Watson Lake, Yukon, Canada. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:14 15:03 |
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Location:
Wye Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 |
File Name: JCD4499MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Watson Lake, Yukon, Canada. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:14 15:03 |
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Location:
Wye Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 |
File Name: JCD4501MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Milepost at 103 Km on the Dempster Highway is Two Moose Lake. Yukon Territory, Canada 2005-06-20. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:20 12:13 |
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Location:
Two Moose Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 280 mm, f/11.0, 1/500 |
File Name: JCD5767MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Milepost at 103 Km on the Dempster Highway is Two Moose Lake. Yukon Territory, Canada 2005-06-20. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:20 12:54 |
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Location:
Two Moose Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/9.5, 1/350 |
File Name: JCD5787MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Denali National Park, Alaska. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:06 12:05 |
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Location:
McKinley Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 320 mm, f/9.0, 1/320 |
File Name: JCD7417MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Denali National Park, Alaska. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:06 12:28 |
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Location:
McKinley Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 |
File Name: JCD7463MewGullChick |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Denali National Park, Alaska. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:06 12:28 |
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Location:
McKinley Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 |
File Name: JCD7465MewGullChick |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
|
Description: Denali National Park, Alaska. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:06 12:54 |
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Location:
McKinley Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD7513MewGullChick |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska 2005-07-09. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:09 17:25 |
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Location:
Lowell Point |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/350 |
File Name: JCD8130MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska 2005-07-09. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:09 17:26 |
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Location:
Lowell Point |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 310 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 |
File Name: JCD8151MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska 2005-07-09. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:09 17:28 |
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Location:
Lowell Point |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD8200MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska 2005-07-09. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:09 17:31 |
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Location:
Lowell Point |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 280 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD8256MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
|
Description: Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska 2005-07-09. |
Date Taken: 2005:07:09 17:32 |
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Location:
Lowell Point |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 280 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD8272MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Dempster Highway, Blackstone River Valley, Yukon, Canada. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:29 8:39 |
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Location:
Blackstone Valley |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 280 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
File Name: Cut_JCD6566MewGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Piedras Blancas, on the Coast of Central California. |
Date Taken: 2003:12:21 9:15 |
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Location:
Piedras Blancas |
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Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 |
File Name: JCD_5717MewGull |
| © 2003 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: Part of the collection at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in Camarillo, California USA 2011-11-01. |
Date Taken: 2011:11:02 9:28 |
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Location:
Western Foundation of Vertebrate |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 105 mm, f/8.0, 1/3 |
File Name: MewGull_D3X4623-Eggs |
| © 2011 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
|
Description: Part of the collection at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in Camarillo, California USA 2011-11-01. |
Date Taken: 2011:11:02 9:31 |
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Location:
Western Foundation of Vertebrate |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 105 mm, f/8.0, 1/4 |
File Name: MewGull_D3X4625-Eggs |
| © 2011 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
|
Description: Part of the collection at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in Camarillo, California USA 2011-11-01. |
Date Taken: 2011:11:02 9:36 |
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Location:
Western Foundation of Vertebrate |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 105 mm, f/8.0, 1/2 |
File Name: MewGull_D3X4628-Eggs |
| © 2011 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: When I met these birds in 2005, we called them Mew Gulls. Now they are known as Short-Billed Gulls. Of all the places I visited on my 2005 expedition to Alaska, Watson Lake was one of my favorite stops. It was where I first met Red-Necked Grebes and Mew Gulls. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:07 7:59 |
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Location:
Wye Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: ShortBilledGull_8508471-WatsonLake.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
|
Description: When I met these birds in 2005, we called them Mew Gulls. Now they are known as Short-Billed Gulls. Of all the places I visited on my 2005 expedition to Alaska, Watson Lake was one of my favorite stops. It was where I first met Red-Necked Grebes and Mew Gulls. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:07 8:01 |
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Location:
Wye Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: ShortBilledGull_8508473-WatsonLake.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
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Description: After three days of rain, I took the opportunity to walk the river trails on each side of the Yukon River in Whitehorse looking for Arctic Terns. Short-Billed Gulls foraged on small fish and midges in the river. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:15 13:59 |
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Location:
Riverdale |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: ShortBilledGull_8500056-Whitehorse.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
|
Description: After three days of rain, I took the opportunity to walk the river trails on each side of the Yukon River in Whitehorse looking for Arctic Terns. Short-Billed Gulls foraged on small fish and midges in the river. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:15 14:03 |
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Location:
Riverdale |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: ShortBilledGull_8500153-Whitehorse.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
|
Description: My luck with capturing Arctic Terns went well enough, so I tried again the next day. These gulls shared the nesting grounds with the terns. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:18 12:23 |
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Location:
Riverdale |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: ShortBilledGull_8502220-Whitehorse.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Short-Billed Gull(Larus brachyrhynchus) |
|
Description: When I met these birds in 2005, we called them Mew Gulls. Now they are known as Short-Billed Gulls. Of all the places I visited on my 2005 expedition to Alaska, Watson Lake was one of my favorite stops. It was where I first met Red-Necked Grebes and Mew Gulls. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:07 7:59 |
|
Location:
Wye Lake |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: ShortBilledGull_8508459-WatsonLake.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Herring Gull(Larus argentatus) |
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Description: With Short-Billed Gull (formerly Mew Gull) at Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:16 10:20 |
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Location:
Whitehorse |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/9.5, 1/350 |
File Name: JCD4682HerringGullShortBilledGull |
| © 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
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