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Irish Examiner

Birds of Ireland: Common gull — or mew gull

Common Gull (Mew Gull) [Faoileán bán | Larus canus] The common gull is about 40-42 centimetres long with a wingspan of 110-120 centimetres. Usually seen here in spring, autumn and winter, common gulls are actually a scarce breeding species here and usually seen on estuaries and wetlands. A common gull is the same size as a black-headed gull. The adults have a grey back and grey wings with a white trailing edge. They have black wing tips with large white spots. Their legs are yellow-green to grey and they have a dull yellow beak. Common gull A common gull's non breeding plumage features streaking on the head and their beak is grey at the base with some black near the tip. Juvenile and immature common gulls take three years to reach their adult plumage. In their first year they have a grey back, with no obvious white on their wings; they have a white tail with a black tail band and they have a black-tipped pink bill and grey-pink legs. In their second year they look like a non-breeding adult except they have less white and more black on their wing tips and they have a thicker black band on their beak. In flight the white wing tips are noticeable on adult birds. Their 'voice' is very squeaky. Tip of the Week: Some waders and gulls when not in adult plumage are considered to be among the most challenging in bird identification, so under- standing their annual moult patterns will help to identify them. All young waders and gulls start out with juvenile plumage which they usually keep until they arrive at their wintering grounds. There they have a 'post-juvenile moult', also called a partial moult, replacing all the body feathers and some of the inner wing coverts with new feathers that have different colours and patterns from the juvenile plumage. All waders have a partial moult, usually sometime between January and April, so it is sometimes referred to as a 'spring moult', and then a complete moult, later in the year, usually sometime between August and November. Most waders reach adult plumage within 12 months of hatching. Gulls, on the other hand, take longer. Small gulls, such as the black-headed gull, take just over a year, medium-sized gulls, such as the common gull, take a little over two years, while big gulls, such as herring gull, take a little over three years. Because moulting takes a few weeks and varies from individual to individual, you might encounter birds with mostly old feathers, a mixture of old and new, or mostly new feathers, all standing side by side. Featured in Birds of Ireland: A field guide by Jim Wilson with photographs by Mark Carmody Jim Wilson is a wildlife writer, broadcaster, tour leader, and former chairman of BirdWatch Ireland. He has been involved in the study and conservation of birds in Ireland for more than 45 years, contributing to several major surveys and international projects. Mark Carmody is an award-winning wildlife photographer, has a PhD in biochemistry and works as a European patent attorney. Read More Birds of Ireland: Woodpigeon