Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic note
Larus glaucoides and L. thayeri (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) have been lumped as L. glaucoides (Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International 2018). Chesser et al. (2017) made Thayer’s Gull Larus thayeri a subspecies of Iceland Gull L. glaucoides, with the race L. g. kumlieni retained ‘as a separate group’ although the proposal (http://checklist.aou.org/assets/proposals/PDF/2017-C.pdf) on which the decision on thayeri was based argued that kumlieni is the product of non-assortative mating between the taxa thayeri and glaucoides; see also Ayyash (2017). The close relationship of thayeri and glaucoides is shown without commentary in Figure 8B in Sonsthagen et al. (2016). We accept Larus thayeri as a subspecies of L. glaucoides but treat kumlieni as an apparent hybrid population having no taxonomic status.
Taxonomic source(s)
Ayyash, A. 2017. Thayer’s Gull—a checkered history near its end? Birding June: 40-44.
Chesser, R. T. et al. 2017. Fifty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 134: 751-773.
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.
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2018. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 3. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v3_Nov18.zip.
Sonsthagen, S. A., Wilson, R. E., Chesser, R. T., Pons, J.-M., Crochet, P.-A., Driskell, A. & Dove, C. 2016. Recurrent hybridization and recent origin obscure phylogenetic relationships within the ‘white-headed’ gull (Larus sp.) complex. Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 103: 41-54.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
full migrant |
Forest dependency |
does not normally occur in forest |
| Land-mass type |
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: The global population is estimated at 190,000-400,000 individuals by Wetlands International (2015). The European population is estimated at 50,000-100,000 pairs, which equates to 100,000-200,000 mature individuals or 150,000-300,000 individuals (BirdLife International 2015). Combining the recently published population estimate for the European population with the Wetlands International (2015) estimate provides a new global population estimate of 250,000-400,000 individuals, here placed in the band 100,000-499,999 individuals.
Trend justification: The global population trend is stable (Wetlands International 2015). In North America, the species has undergone a large and statistically significant increase over the last 40 years (2,200% increase over 40 years, equating to a 117% increase per decade; data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007). The European population trend estimate is stable (BirdLife International 2015).
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/iceland-gull-larus-glaucoides on 08/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 08/01/2025.
