Stats

Lifespan

10-15 yrs

Size

Medium

Diet

Omnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Colony

Biome

Inland saline lake

Range

Western North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Flight

Status

Common

About

The California Gull is a medium-sized gull with a yellow bill marked by both a red and black spot near the tip. It is the state bird of Utah, honored for a flock that famously devoured a swarm of crop-destroying crickets threatening Mormon settlers in 1848.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae

Genus

Larus

Species

Larus californicus