The short-billed gull is a species of gull that breeds in northwestern North America. In North America, it was previously known as the mew gull, when it was considered conspecific with the palearctic common gull. Most authorities, including the American Ornithological Society in 2021, have split the two populations as distinct species.
Region
Northwestern North America and North Pacific Coast
Typical Environment
Breeds from coastal and interior Alaska into northwestern Canada, nesting near lakes, rivers, marshes, and coastal lagoons. During nonbreeding, it is most common along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to Baja California, frequenting bays, estuaries, beaches, and urban shorelines. Inland migrants use large lakes and river systems, especially in the West. It adapts well to human-modified coasts and harbors but remains closely tied to water for foraging.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Recently split from the Palearctic common gull, the short-billed gull breeds in northwestern North America and winters mostly along the Pacific coast. It has a characteristically dark eye, greenish-yellow legs, and a proportionally shorter bill than similar small gulls. Identification from vagrant common gulls can be tricky, so wing pattern and eye color are often key. Its soft, catlike “mew” calls give rise to the former name, mew gull.
First-winter short-billed gull
Subadult (third-year) short-billed gull in flight. Note the white tongue tips forming a "string of pearls" between primaries 5 and 8.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
buoyant with steady, shallow wingbeats
Social Behavior
Nests colonially or in loose groups on ground near water, often among other gulls or terns. Pairs are largely monogamous within a season, and both sexes incubate and feed young. Outside breeding, flocks gather at feeding sites, roosts, and on beaches.
Migratory Pattern
Seasonal migrant
Song Description
Vocalizations are soft, mewing calls and yelps, along with gentle kek-kek contact notes. Display calls during breeding are higher-pitched and less raucous than larger gulls.
