Seagulls, also known as just ‘gulls’ in many countries, are quite gregarious in behavior, but mellowed in appearance. Guess, their behavior compensates for what is missing in their looks.
On a serious note, if you happen to walk by a sea-shore, or trying to buy some fresh fish from the local fishermen, you may have noticed loud, yelping birds making ‘laughing’ noises? They are most apparently seagulls, but have you tried to tell the male and female apart?
In this male vs female seagulls article, you will learn some strong pointers that will help you to differentiate between the two genders. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
Overview Of Seagulls
Source: @mary_morrissey_
Seagulls are common names for gulls that belong to the order called Charadriiformes, and family Laridae. They are mostly subdued in appearance, carrying shades of light blue, gray and white wherever they go. They have webbed feet and long bills that will remind you of ducks a little bit, but ducks that can fly long distances, because gulls love to take long flights.
These birds have versatile skills– they are partially terrestrial, and are also adept in spending time foraging under water. They can swim, walk and fly, and they can even hover and take off at lightning speeds when threats approach. These birds have 54 known species living across the world, including the Arctic and the Antarctic. However, tropical islands are less frequented.
Male vs Female Seagulls: Similarities and Differences Chart
Let’s begin by taking a glimpse through a list of similarities and differences, so that you can see why the two genders are almost identical to each other, and why telling them apart is so difficult.
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Similarities Between Male and Female Seagulls |
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| Size: Seagulls are medium to large-sized birds with an average wingspan of 5 feet.
Color and Features: All seagulls have muted colors on their plumage. Light-gray, white and black are the usual colors. They all have hooked beaks and webbed feet. Calls: Seagulls generate a wide variety of noises. Near seashores and coastlines, continuous squawking, yelling, growling, and chirping will indicate that there is a noisy seagull colony nearby. Habitat: Seagulls are mainly found in the marine and coastal areas, sea shores, lakes, rivers, and even uninhabited islands. In the urban areas, they could be frequently spotted near waste dumps, fishing boats and tourist locations. Diet: They are both omnivores and scavengers, therefore they eat almost everything. Starting from fish, crabs, insects, mollusks, seeds and berries, to even human food and carrion— everything finds its way down a gull’s throat. Nesting and Brooding: Seagull parents are devoted to incubating their eggs and taking care of their chicks together. This nurtures strong pair bonds. |
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Differences |
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| Features | Female Seagull | Male Seagull | ||
| Plumage | Duller | Brighter | ||
| Size | Smaller | Larger | ||
| Bill and Gape | Smaller bill, straighter gape | Larger bill, curved gape | ||
Male vs Female Seagulls: 5 Major Differences Explained
Sexual dimorphism in seagulls is quite muted. Both the genders have a simple appearance, with the females being even more subtly toned. However, the more you study them, the better you will be at telling them apart.
Source: @shabbyshackworkshop, @hannahjkell86
Plumage
Males have a more striking color contrast so they appear brighter than females.
Most males across seagull species have white heads, gray wings, white underparts, and black-tips on their feathers. Though these colors are dull themselves, and strictly speaking are monochromatic or colors of the same palette, when males are compared to the females, the females look even more subdued. In short, seagulls lack in the looks department.
Herring gulls, ring-billed gulls, great black-backed gulls, and yellow legged gulls– males of these species share similar traits. They all have white heads, light-gray backs, accompanied by black tips on their wings. Long story short, for the most part, all male seagulls appear black-and-white.
However, the females of all the species mentioned above have a brownish-gray appearance, which from a distance is almost indistinguishable. Comparably, the females have a duller plumage color, and appear mottled and more muted than their male counterparts.
Size
Males are larger than females.
Across different species of seagulls, males have been found to have a longer body and a larger wingspan than females. In the case of herring gulls, males are 60 to 66 cm long, whereas females are 53 to 62 cm long.
In weight, there is a gap of 700 gm between males and females, males being the heavier mates. Black-tailed gulls display the same nuances.
Source: @chiel_de_graaf
Bill And Gape
Males have longer bills than females. They also have a more curved gape.
Gape is the corner of a bird’s mouth where the beak meets the face. Males have a larger bill with a curved gape that gives it a grumpy and ferocious appearance.
This is a big reason why males look more angry and aggressive regardless of whether they are being territorial at that moment.
On the other hand, females have a thinner and smaller beak, with a straighter gape. The lack of a curvature at the corner of their mouth, presents females with a more amicable appearance.
Mating, Nesting, And Brooding
Courtship is mainly done by the males.
Like thousands of males across the avian world, the males of seagull families are the ones that initiate courtship in the breeding season. One of the noticeable feats that the males perform are the aerial displays of wings and tail feathers. They also extend their wings to display amazing colors to attract female attention, they strut and puff their chest feathers out.
Another thing that males do during courtship is offer the females food. Females accept the offering to show that she has approved the aerial display and is ready to mate. Sometimes, females would also engage in aerial feats with the males.
Seagull parenting skills are shared and top-notch. They take turns to do everything. They share incubation duty which lengthens over a period of 25 days, feed regurgitated food to the chicks alternately, and even share the nest-guarding responsibility. Both the mates remain monogamous throughout one breeding season at the least.
Source: @hbcult, @walk_with_me_and_see
Social Behavior
Males are more gregarious than females. During nesting both become equally ferocious.
Males appear aggressive almost all the time, except for when they are incubating eggs and there is no external disturbance. They squawk loudly to exert dominance over the females, competitors, and needless to say, intruders. They look fierce most of their waking hours. When intruders trespass territory, they harrass, dive-bomb and mob them in flocks.
On the contrary, females appear quieter and gentler most of the time. They spend more time incubating the eggs and taking care of the chicks, than protecting or foraging. Females are homebodies, in short.
However, when needed, females could be quite demanding too. When they want to exert dominance, they pump their necks up and down, and produce choking and gagging noises so as to intimidate the intruder.
Calls of males are also louder and more aggressive than female vocalizations. Growls and barks are common among seagull households and the wider community.
Fun Facts on Seagulls
Seagulls are commonly sighted birds in the coastal areas of America and Europe. But there are certain things about them that set them apart from other avians. Let’s take a look.
- Seagulls are very clever. They stomp their feet continuously on the ground to imitate the pitter-patter sound of rainfall, so that earthworms come to the surface and they can eat them up.
- They throw hard-shelled invertebrates, like crabs or mollusks, to crack them open to get to the juicier flesh inside.
- They have special glands close to their eyes that help them filter out salt from water.
- They have a small claw on their lower leg that helps them to roost or perch in windy conditions.
Thoughts
If you see two seagulls, one is shouting and another remains silent, the one shouting is most apparently a male. Take no offense anyone, but male seagulls are loud and aggressive, that’s for sure. When it comes to male vs female seagulls, this feature might help to differentiate.
Both the birds are muted in appearance. Subtle colors like gray, white, black and brown embellish their plumage. Sexual dimorphism is not highly pronounced in this genus of birds, the reason why it gets quite difficult to tell them apart.
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