Herring Gull

The herring gull is not difficult to see in Ireland, breeding all around the coast and on roofs of houses in Dublin and elsewhere. The biggest colony in Ireland is on Lambay Island off Co. Dublin with over 1,800 nests.

Herring gulls have a varied diet including fish, crustaceans, dead animals and some plants. Herring gull numbers have significantly declined in recent years, possibly due to fish population declines and competition, and now survive in human-adapted areas by scavenging. 

It is a large gull, adults having light grey wings with black tips. The rest of the plumage is white. Adult birds also have a large yellow bill with an orange spot on the lower bill. 

The herring gull is red-listed in Ireland due to a large decline in the breeding population. 

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Image (c) by Andreas Trepte used under Creative Commons License BY-SA 2.5.