American herring gull
Smithsonian gull latin
larus smithsonianus latin

Occasionally Thayer's Gull and American Herring Gull are observed here.

American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) are the favored avian prey species for eagles living around Lake Superior.

L. (a.) smithsonianus, American Herring Gull, breeds in Alaska, Canada and the north-east United States.

A 2002 study suggested that the American Herring Gull is not closely related to European Herring Gulls, belonging instead to a separate clade of gulls.

The American Ornithologists' Union has not adopted the split and continues to treat the American Herring Gull as a subspecies of Larus argentatus.

The BOU also includes the East Siberian Gull (Larus vegae) of north-east Asia within the American Herring Gull.

European birds lack the long gray tongues on the 6th, 7th, and 8th primaries and solid black markings on the 5th and 6th primaries that are shown by American Herring Gulls.

The American Ornithologists' Union considered Thayer's Gull a subspecies of American Herring Gull from 1917 until 1973, when they determined it was a separate species from Herring Gull.

At tern colonies in coastal Maine, American Herring Gulls occasionally also attack nestling and fledging terns but in a great majority of cases were immediately pirated of their catch by Great Black-backs.

American herring gull, Larus smithsonianus, also known as the Smithsonian gull, photographed at Tuttle Creek Reservoir outflow tubes on the Big Blue River 8 km (5 miles) north of Manhattan, Kansas (USA).

Quinn has found a number of rare vagrant birds in Cheshire, including a Franklin's Gull at Neumann's Flash in 1987 and a first-winter American Herring Gull in 1994, the first accepted record for mainland Britain.

Adult European Herring Gulls are very similar to American Herring Gulls but those of the subspecies L. a. argenteus are smaller than many American birds while those of the northern subspecies L. a. argentatus are typically darker gray above.

It is variously treated as a separate species, as a subspecies of American Herring Gull (L. smithsonianus) or included with both the American Herring Gull and European Herring Gull in L. argentatus.

American herring gull, Larus smithsonianus, also known as the Smithsonian gull, photographed at Tuttle Creek Reservoir outflow tubes on the Big Blue River 8 km (5 miles) north of Manhattan, Kansas (USA).

American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) are the favored avian prey species for eagles living around Lake Superior.

American herring gull, Larus smithsonianus, also known as the Smithsonian gull, photographed at Tuttle Creek Reservoir outflow tubes on the Big Blue River 8 km (5 miles) north of Manhattan, Kansas (USA).