Short-billed Gull

Larus brachyrhynchus Richardson, 1831

Short-billed Gull, Larus brachyrhynchus, breeds in western and northern Alaska, south to Vancouver Island in south-west British Columbia, and in north-west Canada east to north-west Alberta. Outside the breeding season it is found along the east Pacific coast from south British Columbia to north-west Baja California. It nests in colonies in coastal places and inland wetlands. The species was first described by Richardson in 1831. In North America it was long treated as the mew gull, but is now accepted as separate from the common gull.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

North America: w, n Alaska mainland s to Vancouver I. (sw British Columbia), and nw Canada e to nw Alberta

Nonbreeding range

e North Pacific coast from s British Columbia (sw Canada) to nw Baja California (nw Mexico)