Audouin's gull. Gaviota de Audouin

Description:

Length 48-52 cm Wingspan 127-138 cm ID It is a relatively large gull with a stylized shape, whose breeding plumage adults have light gray dorsal areas, while the ventral areas, head and neck, are completely white. The beak, red, black and yellow, is quite dark overall and constitutes a clearly distinctive character compared to other seagulls. The legs are olive and the red eye ring. In flight you can see the black ends of the primaries, which stand out vividly from the rest, very clear. There are no significant differences in the plumage of the adults during the winter compared to the summer. In young people, who take four years to acquire the final livery, very stained brownish tones predominate. Singing It emits a weak and hoarse cry, similar to a gui-ok.

Habitat:

Irrigation ditch in rice fields in La Albufera de Valencia.

Notes:

Very rare and rare, the Audouin's gull is a species restricted to the Mediterranean basin. In our country in the sixties of last century it had only a few hundred couples, although from the eighties, when it began to colonize various coastal enclaves, it has experienced a significant increase in its numbers, to the point of being considered to the Spanish population as the most important in the world today.