Data Zone
Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: #http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls#.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
| Critically Endangered | Endangered | Vulnerable |
|---|---|---|
| - | - | A4b |
| Year | Category | Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Vulnerable | A4b |
| 2018 | Least Concern | |
| 2016 | Least Concern | |
| 2015 | Least Concern | |
| 2012 | Near Threatened | A3b |
| 2010 | Near Threatened | A3b |
| 2008 | Near Threatened | A3b |
| 2006 | Near Threatened | |
| 2004 | Near Threatened | |
| 2000 | Lower Risk/Near Threatened | |
| 1994 | Lower Risk/Conservation Dependent | |
| 1988 | Threatened |
| Migratory status | full migrant | Forest dependency | Does not normally occur in forest |
| Land mass type |
Land-mass type - continent Land-mass type - shelf island |
Average mass | 535 g |
| Estimate | Data quality | |
|---|---|---|
| Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2) | 2,200,000 | medium |
| Extent of Occurrence non-breeding (km2) | 8,410,000 | medium |
| Number of locations | 11-100 | - |
| Severely Fragmented | - |
| Value | Data quality | Derivation | Year of estimate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of mature individuals | good | estimated | 2010 | |
| Population trend | Decreasing | poor | estimated | - |
| Decline (3 years/1 generation past) | - | - | - | |
| Decline (5 years/1 generation past) | - | - | - | |
| Decline (10 years/1 generation past) | - | - | - | |
| Decline (10 years/3 generation future) | 20-29 | - | - | - |
| Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future) | 31-40 | - | - | - |
| Number of subpopulations | - | - | - | |
| Percentage in largest subpopulation | - | - | - | |
| Generation length (yrs) | 8.1 | - | - | - |
Population justification: Gutiérrez and Guinart (2008) reported a global population of 21,161 pairs. However, more recent figures suggest that the global population is likely to have peaked around 2007 at c. 25,000 pairs (BirdLife International in prep.). This has fallen rapidly over the past few years and the current EU population is estimated at 15,900- 21,800 pairs (BirdLife International in prep.)
Allowing for the small known breeding populations outside the EU, the global population probably numbers c. 33,000-46,000 mature individuals.
Trend justification: The population has suffered a rapid reduction since around 2010, following the reduction in fisheries discards (after previous unsustainable levels of trawl discards had driven a substantial population increase over the previous three generations). At the same time, the very large colony holding the majority of global population collapsed, which is thought to be due to reproductive failure caused by the presence of mammalian predators (Payo-Payo et al. 2018) and the decline in fishery discards (Calado et al. 2018, García-Tarrasón et al. 2015). Due to the previous increase, over the past three generations (24 years, using the methods described in Bird et al. (2020) the rate of decline is approximately 15%, but the reduction for a three generation period between 2006 and 2030 is suspected to be 31-40% (BirdLife International in prep.). It is uncertain whether the reduction will continue at this rate over the next three generations, as new colonies are likely to be founded from the remaining adults. However, with the reduction in food availability, the population is not expected to recover to numbers seen in the first decade of the current century, hence a population reduction over the next three generations of between 20-29% is suspected.
| Country/Territory | Occurrence status | Presence | Resident | Breeding | Non-breeding | Passage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | U | Extant | ||||
| Algeria | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | U | Extant | ||||
| Bulgaria | V | Extant | ||||
| Croatia | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Cyprus | N | Extant | Yes | Yes | ||
| Czechia | V | Extant | ||||
| Egypt | V | Extant | ||||
| France | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Gambia | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Georgia | V | Extant | Yes | |||
| Germany | V | Extant | ||||
| Gibraltar (to UK) | N | Extant | Yes | Yes | ||
| Greece | N | Extant | Yes | Yes | ||
| Israel | V | Extant | Yes | |||
| Italy | N | Extant | Yes | Yes | ||
| Jordan | V | Extant | ||||
| Lebanon | V | Extant | Yes | |||
| Libya | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Malta | V | Extant | ||||
| Mauritania | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Monaco | U | Extant | ||||
| Montenegro | U | Extant | ||||
| Morocco | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| North Macedonia | V | Extant | Yes | |||
| Palestine | V | Extant | Yes | |||
| Portugal | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Senegal | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Slovenia | U | Extant | ||||
| Spain | N | Extant | Yes | Yes | ||
| Switzerland | V | Extant | ||||
| Syria | U | Extant | ||||
| Tunisia | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| Turkey | N | Extant | Yes | |||
| United Kingdom | V | Extant | ||||
| Western Sahara | U | Extant |
| Habitat (level 1) | Habitat (level 2) | Importance | Occurrence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands | major | breeding |
| Marine Intertidal | Rocky Shoreline | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Intertidal | Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Intertidal | Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches | suitable | non-breeding |
| Marine Intertidal | Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Intertidal | Tidepools | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Macroalgal/Kelp | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Macroalgal/Kelp | major | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Pelagic | major | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Pelagic | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Seagrass (Submerged) | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Seagrass (Submerged) | major | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel | major | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs | major | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy | major | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy-Mud | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy-Mud | major | breeding |
| Marine Oceanic | Epipelagic (0-200m) | marginal | resident |
| Marine Oceanic | Mesopelagic (200-1000m) | marginal | resident |
| Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks) | suitable | breeding | |
| Altitude | 0 - 100 m | Occasional altitudinal limits |
| Threat (level 1) | Threat (level 2) | Impact and Stresses | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biological resource use | Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest] | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Majority (50-90%) | Rapid Declines | Medium Impact: 7 | ||||||
|
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| Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases | Problematic native species/diseases - Meles meles | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Past, Likely to Return | Majority (50-90%) | Rapid Declines | Past Impact | ||||||
|
|||||||||
| Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases | Problematic native species/diseases - Vulpes vulpes | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Past, Likely to Return | Majority (50-90%) | Rapid Declines | Past Impact | ||||||
|
|||||||||
| Purpose | Primary form used | Life stage used | Source | Scale | Level | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food - human | - | - | Non-trivial | Recent | ||
| Pets/display animals, horticulture | - | - | International | Non-trivial | Recent | |
| Sport hunting/specimen collecting | - | - | Non-trivial | Recent |
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2022) Species factsheet: Larus audouinii. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 03/07/2022.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2022) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 03/07/2022.
