Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus

[KevinA]

From Wikipedia
"The great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) is the largest member of the gull family. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "the king of the Atlantic waterfront", it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic and is fairly sedentary, though some move farther south or inland to large lakes and reservoirs. The adult great black-backed gull has a white head, neck and underparts, dark grey wings and back, pink legs and yellow bill."

Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus

Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus

 

[AlanLichty]

A little hard to judge the size of these birds in isolation like this but they do look larger than the western variants I am used to seeing.

 

[JimFox]

That does look very similar to the Seagulls out here in SoCal. I need to run to the beach and take a photo of ours here so I can compare the difference. Had you not posted the info, I would have assumed you had been to California photographing our seagulls.

 

[KevinA]

A little hard to judge the size of these birds in isolation like this but they do look larger than the western variants I am used to seeing.

That does look very similar to the Seagulls out here in SoCal. I need to run to the beach and take a photo of ours here so I can compare the difference. Had you not posted the info, I would have assumed you had been to California photographing our seagulls.

Thank you Alan and Jim. Size wise they are 64–79 cm (25–31 in) long with a 1.5–1.7 m (59 in – 67 in) wingspan and a body weight of 0.75–2.3 kg (1 lb 10 oz – 5 lb 1 oz)
There are no seagulls in California or for that matter anywhere in the world. What you do have in SoCal is the Western Gull, Larus occidentalis which looks similar to the Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus but a lot smaller at 55 to 68 cm (22 to 27 in) long with a 1.3 to 1.44 m (51 to 57 in) wingspan, and a body weight of 0.80 to 1.4 kg (1.8 to 3.1 lb)

 

[AlanLichty]

We have mostly Western Gulls up here in the Pacific NW as well.

 

[Michael13]

The added girth and weight is most likely from all that Guinness they consume ...

 

[Trent Watts]

The added girth and weight is most likely from all that Guinness they consume ...

The Guinness Gull.. HMMM.. Does have a ring to it.

 

[Trent Watts]

I take my hat off to you Kevin. I find Gulls extremely difficult to ID. These are lovely shots of this species.

 

[KevinA]

We have mostly Western Gulls up here in the Pacific NW as well.

Thanks for looking and commenting Alan, it's really appreciated

The added girth and weight is most likely from all that Guinness they consume ...

So that's my problem then, who'd have thought it

I take my hat off to you Kevin. I find Gulls extremely difficult to ID. These are lovely shots of this species.

Thank you Trent but like you, gulls confuse me, but then again, most things confuse me