Audouin’s Gull

The Audouin’s Gull is found during the spring and summer at selected coastal locations and outside of the breeding season can also be found elsewhere. The best sites are around the Formentor Peninsula where it can even be seen on the beach in Puerto Pollensa. Other reliable sites are the islands of Cabera and Dragonera which both provide close up and regular views of this bird.

Technical description

Audouin’s Gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii) is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa. It breeds on small islands colonially or alone, laying 2-3 eggs on a ground nest. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus. In the late 1960s, this was one of the World’s rarest gulls, with a population of only 1,000 pairs. It has established new colonies but remains rare with a population of about 10,000 pairs. The adult basically resembles a small European herring gull, the most noticeable differences being the short stubby red bill and “string of pearls” white wing primary tips, rather than the large “mirrors” of some other species. The legs are grey-green. It takes four years to reach adult plumage.