Black-tailed Gull

Larus crassirostris Vieillot, 1818

Black-tailed Gull, Larus crassirostris, is a gull of the coasts and islets of eastern Siberia, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, the Korean Peninsula, eastern China and the Matsu Islands, with wintering birds in Japan, Korea, the East China Sea and as far south as the Philippines. It was described by Vieillot in 1818. It is a medium-sized gull with yellow legs and a bill marked by red and black at the tip. The tail is black, and the sexes look the same, though males are larger. It takes four years to attain adult plumage.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

Palearctic: coasts and islets of e Siberia, Sakhalin and Kuril Is. (se Russia), Hokkaido and Honshu (n, c Japan), Korean Pen., e China and Matsu Is. (=Lienchiang County; w of Taiwan)

Nonbreeding range

Japan, Korean Pen., East China Sea s to Philippines