The grey gull, also known as garuma gull is a medium-sized gull native to South America. Unusual among gulls, it breeds inland in the extremely dry Atacama Desert in northern Chile, although it is present as a non-breeding bird along much of the Pacific coast of South America.
Region
Pacific coast of western South America
Typical Environment
Breeds inland on the hyper-arid Atacama Desert of northern Chile, using salt flats and barren desert pans as colony sites. Outside the breeding season it is found along the Pacific coast from northern Chile through Peru and into Ecuador, frequenting beaches, rocky shores, and harbors. It roosts on open coastal sands and rests on isolated rocks or piers. Birds commute between inland colonies and the sea to feed, sometimes covering dozens to over a hundred kilometers. Vagrants are occasionally recorded farther north along the coast.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 2500 m
Climate Zone
Arid
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called the garuma gull, it is remarkable for breeding far inland on barren salt flats of the Atacama Desert and commuting to the coast to feed. Adults often forage at night or during the cooler crepuscular hours, likely to avoid daytime desert heat. It was formerly placed in the genus Larus and is a medium-sized, graceful gull of the Pacific coast of South America.
Temperament
social and wary in colonies; calm but alert at roosts
Flight Pattern
strong flier with steady wingbeats; capable of soaring in coastal breezes
Social Behavior
Nests in dense colonies on open, barren desert ground, where a simple scrape is lined sparsely with debris. Both parents incubate and tend the young, typically from a clutch of 2–3 eggs. Away from colonies it forms loose flocks along beaches and at harbors, often roosting together on open sand.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Vocalizations are typical gull-like calls: harsh, repeating kek and kyow notes and plaintive mewing cries. At colonies, calls become more rapid and excited during territorial or alarm displays.
Plumage
Smooth, medium-grey mantle and upperparts with paler grey to whitish underparts; breeding adults show a clean white head, while non-breeding birds have fine grey streaking on the head. Primaries are black with small white mirrors and a narrow whitish trailing edge; tail generally whitish. Plumage looks soft and even-toned compared to many other gulls.
Diet
Takes intertidal invertebrates such as crabs, mollusks, polychaetes, and small crustaceans. Also eats small fish, carrion, and human refuse around ports. Opportunistic forager that will scavenge and occasionally hawk insects inland near colonies.
Preferred Environment
Feeds along sandy and rocky shores, surf lines, mudflats, and harbor edges. Around fishing ports it scavenges discards, while on natural shores it probes wrack lines and shallow pools exposed by the tide.
