Mantelmöwe Schleswig-Holstein

The great black-backed gull is the largest gull species in the world. Adult birds reach a body length of 61 to 78 centimetres, a wingspan of 145 to 165 centimetres and typically weigh between 1.5 and 2 kilograms. Distinctive features are the very dark, almost black mantle, the white head, the powerful yellow bill with a red gonys spot, and pale pinkish legs. Birds reach sexual maturity at four to five years of age, and the full adult plumage develops gradually through several immature stages.

The core range covers the coasts of the North Atlantic, with large breeding populations in Norway, the United Kingdom, Iceland and Sweden. Along the German North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts the great black-backed gull occurs mainly as a winter visitor and passage migrant, while breeding pairs remain very scarce. The main wintering areas lie in the south-western Baltic, along the North Sea and on the Atlantic coasts. Nest sites are placed on islands, rocks or skerries that are safe from ground predators, often at exposed locations within colonies of other gulls. The diet is highly varied and includes fish, crustaceans and molluscs, other seabirds up to the size of cormorants, eggs, carrion and refuse, supplemented by frequent kleptoparasitism on other gulls.

The great black-backed gull can be told from other large gulls primarily by its considerable size, its especially dark mantle and its pink legs. The smaller lesser black-backed gull shows a similarly dark mantle but is much more slender and has bright yellow legs. The roughly similarly sized herring gull has a pale grey mantle and likewise pinkish legs. Legally, the great black-backed gull is listed as a huntable species under the Federal Hunting Act, but is placed under year-round closed season by the Federal Hunting Seasons Ordinance. In addition it is specially protected under the Federal Nature Conservation Act, and individual federal states have enacted their own full protection rules. Please always refer to the currently valid state hunting law for the applicable hunting and closed seasons.