Coral gull
| Coral gull | ||||||||||||
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Coral gull ( Ichthyaetus audouinii ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ichthyaetus audouinii | ||||||||||||
| ( Payraudeau , 1826) |
The coral gull ( Ichthyaetus audouinii , Syn . : Larus audouinii ) is a species of gull with a breeding population of around 15,000 pairs that is restricted to the Mediterranean region .
features
Coral gulls are medium-sized gulls with a body length of 51 cm. They are white on the head, neck and underside and tail, the back and the top of the wings are light gray. The beak is coral red with a black ring near the yellow tip, and its feet are dark olive green. From a distance, the eyes, beak and feet appear black, and although the size is closer to a herring gull ( Larus argentatus ), the species looks much lighter and more elegant, overall in habit more similar to a large common gull ( Larus canus ).
Occurrence
The breeding grounds of the coral gull are on rocky steep slopes or on offshore reefs , with the exception of the colony in the Ebro Delta in Spain , which is located on a salty and sandy coastline. The most important colonies (approx. 90% of the total population) are located in protected areas, e.g. B. in the salt pans of Torrevieja where around 2,100 breeding pairs live. The wintering areas of the coral gull are little known and include Algeria , Mauritania , Morocco, and Senegal .
Coral gulls breed in Algeria, France , Greece , Italy , Morocco , Spain , Tunisia and Turkey . The northernmost colony is on the island of Gorgona in the Tyrrhenian Sea off Livorno .
nutrition
The menu of the coral gull consists mainly of fish, but also other birds or plant seeds.
Reproduction
Coral gulls breed in colonies, the strength of which ranges from a few to a thousand pairs. Breeding occurs fairly regularly in certain areas. New colonies sometimes appear, as has happened in the Ebro Delta. There the colony grew from 36 (1981) to 9400 pairs (1994).
Hazard and protection
Because of the population growth in the western Mediterranean area over the past 20 years, the species is now considered to be safe.
Mediterranean seagulls ( Larus michahellis ) can be responsible for high losses of offspring and nest destruction of the coral gulls, but this does not happen in all colonies or in all years.
The habitats of the coral gull are mainly destroyed by tourism . They are kept away from their breeding grounds by hotels and noise. This is most noticeable in the Balearic Islands . The breeding season coincides with the high tourist season and the easy accessibility of many colonies means that they are often haunted by careless tourists.
Etymology and history of research
The first description of the coral gull was in 1826 by Charles Payraudeau under the scientific name Larus audouinii . Sardinia and Corsica were responsible for the distribution area of the species . In 1829 Johann Jakob Kaup introduced the new genus Ichthyaetus . »Ichthyaetus« derives from the Greek »ikhthys ιχθυς « for »fish« and »aetos αετος « for »eagle«. The species name is dedicated to Payraudeau's friend Jean Victor Audouin (1797–1841).
literature
- Bernd-Olaf Flore: The coral gull Larus audouinii, a new species for Germany . In: Limicola: Journal for field ornithology . tape 11 , no. 6 , 1997, pp. 281-285 .
- Hans-Hinrich Witt: On the biology of the coral gull Larus audouinii (dissertation) . Bonn 1976. DNB 770729630
- Klaus Malling Olsen, Hans Larsson: Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America . Helm Identification Guides, London 2003, ISBN 978-0-7136-7087-5 .
- James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
- Charles Payraudeau: Description de deux espèce nouvelle d oiseaux, appartenant aux genres Mouette et Comoran . In: Annales des sciences naturelles: comprenant La physiologie animale et végétale, l'anatomie comparée des deux règnes, la zoologie, la botanique, la minéralogie et la geologie . tape 8 , 1826, pp. 469-465 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
- Johann Jakob Kaup: Sketched evolutionary history and natural system of the European animal world: first part which contains the bird mammals and birds together with an indication of the origin of the latter from amphibians . On commission from Carl Wilhelm Leske, Darmstadt 1829 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
Web links
- Larus audouinii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 30 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Larus audouinii in the Internet Bird Collection
- Coral gull feathers