The American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) is a large, powerful gull found across much of North America. Adults have pale-gray backs, white heads and underparts, pink legs, yellow bills, and black wingtips. They are familiar sights around coastlines, lakes, rivers, fishing harbors, beaches, and landfills.
Formerly grouped with other Northern Hemisphere herring gulls, the American Herring Gull was recognized as a separate species in a major 2024 taxonomic update. Its closest relatives include the European Herring Gull, Vega Gull, and Mongolian Gull.
American Herring Gull Identification
The American Herring Gull is a large, barrel-chested bird with broad wings, a thick neck, a substantial bill, and a relatively heavy body. It is larger than a Ring-billed Gull but smaller than a Great Black-backed Gull.
Adult Appearance
A breeding adult can be identified by the following features:
- Clean white head and neck
- White breast, belly, and tail
- Pale-gray back and upper wings
- Black outer wingtips with small white spots
- Dull pink legs and webbed feet
- Yellow bill with a red mark near the tip
- Pale yellow eye
- Broad wings and a strong body
Nonbreeding adults develop tan or gray-brown streaking across the head and neck. Their pink legs and pale-gray backs remain useful identification features throughout the year.
Size and Weight
American Herring Gulls are among the largest commonly encountered gulls in eastern North America.
| Measurement | Approximate range |
| Body length | 22.1–26 inches |
| Weight | 28.2–44.1 ounces |
| Body shape | Large and barrel-chested |
| Relative size | Larger than a Ring-billed Gull |
Males and females have similar plumage, although males are normally larger and have heavier bills. Size differences are most apparent when a pair stands together.
Juvenile American Herring Gull
Juveniles look dramatically different from adults. A first-year American Herring Gull is mottled brown and tan across most of its body, with a dark bill, dark eyes, pinkish legs, and a strongly patterned back.
First-Winter Appearance
A first-winter bird usually has:
- Brown-and-tan checkered upperparts
- Heavily streaked head and underparts
- Entirely dark bill
- Dark eyes
- Pink legs
- Dark flight feathers
- Broad dark band across the tail
In flight, juveniles appear mostly brown. They have dark outer flight feathers without the white spots seen on adult wingtips. Their broad wings, heavy body, and thick tail band help distinguish them from smaller young gulls.
Second- and Third-Winter Birds
American Herring Gulls require approximately four years to attain full adult plumage. Second-year birds remain mostly brown but begin showing pale-gray feathers across the back.
Third-year birds become much more adult-like. They develop additional gray on the wings and back and more white across the head and underparts. However, they may retain neck streaking, dark bill markings, and immature wing patterns.
American Herring Gull in Flight
In flight, the American Herring Gull looks broad-winged, heavy, and barrel-chested. Its wingbeats are strong and measured, although it can soar, glide, and hover into strong coastal winds.
An adult seen from above displays pale-gray wings with black tips and small white markings. From below, the body and inner wings appear mostly white, while the outer flight feathers form dark wingtips.
Juveniles appear much darker, with brown underwings, dark primary feathers, and a thick tail band. The bird’s substantial body and broad wings remain recognizable regardless of age.
American Herring Gull Range
American Herring Gulls breed in Alaska, Canada, the Great Lakes region, and parts of the northeastern United States. During winter, they occur along much of North America’s coastline and around large inland bodies of water.
Some birds remain near their breeding grounds throughout the year. Others migrate south, occasionally reaching Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Young gulls tend to travel farther south than adults.
Migration
Birds breeding inland across Canada and Alaska commonly move toward milder coastal or southern areas in winter. Adults already living around New England, coastal Alaska, or the Great Lakes may remain nearby or move short distances.
Immature birds are generally more migratory. Even when adults remain near a breeding area, younger individuals may travel considerably farther south during fall.
American Herring Gull Habitat
American Herring Gulls use both marine and freshwater environments. They are highly adaptable and frequently move between natural habitats and human-modified areas.
Common habitats include:
- Ocean shorelines
- Beaches and rocky coasts
- Estuaries and mudflats
- Large lakes and reservoirs
- Major rivers
- Islands and barrier beaches
- Agricultural fields
- Fishing harbors
- Landfills and parking lots
- Urban rooftops
Breeding colonies often form on isolated islands, barrier beaches, marshy hummocks, and other locations offering protection from land predators. Some pairs nest on city rooftops because raised buildings provide similar security.
What Do American Herring Gulls Eat?
American Herring Gulls are opportunistic omnivores. They eat animals, plant material, carrion, and human food waste, adjusting their diet according to location and availability.
Natural Foods
Their diet includes:
- Fish
- Squid
- Crabs and crayfish
- Mussels and clams
- Sea urchins
- Marine worms
- Insects and earthworms
- Small seabirds
- Bird eggs and chicks
- Carrion
- Zooplankton
Along rocky shores, they search for mussels, crabs, and sea urchins. On mudflats, they collect worms and small shellfish. They also follow fishing boats and large marine predators that bring fish and other prey close to the surface.
Scavenging Behavior
These gulls commonly search landfills, picnic areas, parking lots, docks, fish-processing facilities, and recently plowed fields. They may steal food from other birds or drop hard-shelled prey onto rocks and pavement to break it open.
Although famous for eating trash, individual gulls often specialize in particular natural foods. Marine invertebrates remain important even where discarded human food is readily available.
American Herring Gull Call
The American Herring Gull has a varied collection of calls used during courtship, territorial disputes, feeding, alarm, and communication between parents and chicks.
Its best-known vocalization is the loud “long call,” delivered while the bird lowers and then raises its head. Adults also produce mewing notes, repeated choking calls, harsh alarm sounds, and increasingly intense calls when a threat approaches.
Chicks use a begging call to request regurgitated food from their parents. They can begin producing this sound while still inside the egg.
Nesting and Reproduction
American Herring Gulls usually nest on the ground in open colonies. Typical nesting sites include islands, beaches, rocky ledges, marsh vegetation, and protected coastal areas. Urban birds may use flat rooftops.
Pairs prepare several shallow ground depressions before selecting one nest site. The completed nest may contain grass, seaweed, twigs, feathers, and other nearby materials. Both parents participate in incubation, nest defense, and chick feeding.
Parents feed their chicks by regurgitating food. The adults may continue supplying food for weeks after hatching, alternating foraging duties so the chicks receive frequent meals.
Young birds leave the immediate nest area before they can fly but remain dependent on their parents. Adults can become noisy and defensive when people, dogs, or other animals approach the colony.
American vs. European Herring Gull
The American and European Herring Gulls are closely related and look extremely similar. Both have pale-gray backs, white bodies, pink legs, yellow bills with red markings, and black wingtips.
| Feature | American Herring Gull | European Herring Gull |
| Scientific name | Larus smithsonianus | Larus argentatus |
| Main range | North America | Northern and western Europe |
| Winter range | South to Central America | Mainly southern Europe |
| Adult appearance | Pale gray with pink legs | Pale gray with pink legs |
| Juvenile appearance | Often darker and more heavily patterned | Variable brown patterning |
| Identification difficulty | Very difficult outside normal range | Very difficult outside normal range |
Geographic location is usually the easiest initial clue. Detailed identification may require examination of wingtip patterns, head streaking, body structure, tail markings, and juvenile plumage. The two were previously grouped within a broader Herring Gull complex but are now treated separately.
Conservation Status
The American Herring Gull remains widespread and familiar, but monitoring indicates a substantial long-term population decline. Cornell currently describes it as a common bird in steep decline, with North American survey data showing a major reduction between 1966 and 2021.
Threats and pressures vary locally and include disturbance at nesting colonies, changes in food supplies, development, predation, pollution, and harmful interactions with human infrastructure.
FAQs
Is an American Herring Gull a Seagull?
Yes, in everyday language. However, “seagull” is an informal term applied to many gull species. The American Herring Gull is one specific member of the gull family and may live around inland lakes, rivers, farms, and cities as well as the ocean.
How Long Do American Herring Gulls Live?
Many young gulls die before reaching adulthood, but surviving individuals can live for decades. The oldest recorded American Herring Gull was at least 29 years and 3 months old when identified from its leg band in Michigan.
Are American Herring Gulls Aggressive?
They can be competitive around food and protective around nests. Nesting adults may call, swoop, or approach an intruder, but they generally prefer warning people away rather than making physical contact.
Where Can You See an American Herring Gull?
Look along Atlantic and Pacific shorelines, the Great Lakes, large reservoirs, rivers, beaches, fishing harbors, landfills, and other open areas near food. They are especially widespread along coastal North America during winter.
What Is the Easiest Way to Identify One?
Look for a large, heavy gull with a pale-gray back, white body, pink legs, yellow bill, and black wingtips. Young birds are mottled brown, so their broad wings, barrel-shaped chest, heavy bill, and pink legs become more useful identification clues.
