CreatureData

Audouin's gull

Ichthyaetus audouinii (Payraudeau, 1826)

Status not recordedbirds

The audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 535 g to 545.2 g and live up to 20.9 years.

Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii)
Photo: Adam Kumiszcza · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the audouin's gull

Weight
545.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.25 m – 1.38 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
20.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
20.9 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
28.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the audouin's gull?

AUDOUIN'S GULL · WINGSPAN 1.38 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.38 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the audouin's gull is about 81% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the audouin's gull

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii)
Frank Schulz Fraenkie · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the audouin's gull live?

Not recorded

What is the audouin's gull?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii) is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle", and

the specific audouinii and the English name are after the French naturalist Jean Victoire Audouin.

It breeds on small islands colonially or alone, laying 2–3 eggs on a ground nest. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.

In the late 1960s, this was one of the world's rarest gulls, with a population of only 1,000 pairs. It has established new colonies, but remains rare with a population of about 10,000 pairs.

This species, unlike many large gulls, rarely scavenges, but is a specialist fish eater, and is therefore strictly coastal and pelagic. This bird will feed at night, often well out to sea, but also slowly patrols close into beaches, occasionally dangling its legs to increase drag.

The adult resembles a small European herring gull, the most noticeable differences being the short stubby red bill and "string of pearls" white wing primary tips, rather than the large "mirrors" of some other species. The legs are grey-green. It takes four years to reach adult plumage.

This species shows little tendency to wander from its breeding areas, but there were single records in the Netherlands and England in May 2003, and one spent from December 2016 to April 2017 in Trinidad.

Audouin's gull is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

From the Wikipedia article “Audouin's gull” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Audouin%27s_gull&oldid=1360134841), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the audouin's gull endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the audouin's gull classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyLaridae
  6. genusIchthyaetus
  7. SpeciesIchthyaetus audouinii (Payraudeau, 1826)

Synonyms Ichthyaetyus audouinii, Larus audouinii, Larus payraudei

Other names and names in other languages (54)
  • Audouin´s gullEnglish
  • AUGUEnglish
  • نورس أدوينArabic
  • نورس أودوينArabic
  • Средиземноморска чайкаBulgarian
  • Gouelan-KorsikaBreton
  • gavina corsaCatalan
  • racek AudouinůvCzech
  • racek zelenonohýCzech
  • Gwylan AudouinWelsh
  • AudouinsmågeDanish
  • KorallenmöweGerman
  • ΑιγαιόγλαροςGreek
  • KoralmevoEsperanto
  • mediteranea mevoEsperanto
  • Gaviota de AudouinSpanish
  • vahemere kajakasEstonian
  • Audouin kaioBasque
  • välimerenlokkiFinnish
  • Goéland d'AudouinFrench
  • Goéland d’AudouinFrench
  • Faoileán coiréalghobachIrish
  • Foillan AudouinScottish Gaelic
  • Gaivota de AudouinGalician
  • שחף אדום מקורHebrew
  • שחף אדום-מקורHebrew
  • korallsirályHungarian
  • KóralmáfurIcelandic
  • Gabbiano corsoItalian
  • アカハシカモメJapanese
  • Koralinis KirasLithuanian
  • viduržeminis kirasLithuanian
  • Oduēna kaijaLatvian
  • Gawwija Geddumha AħmarMaltese
  • Audouins MeeuwDutch
  • middelhavsmåkeNorwegian
  • mewa śródziemnomorskaPolish
  • gaivota-de-audouinPortuguese
  • gaivota-de-bico-coralPortuguese
  • Muetta d'AudouinRomansh
  • Чайка ОдуэнаRussian
  • Одуэнова чайкаRussian
  • GaskamearabáiskiNorthern Sami
  • čajka ostrovnáSlovak
  • sredozemski galebSlovenian
  • Pulëbardha e kepitAlbanian
  • Sredozemni galebSerbian
  • Црвеноклјуни галебSerbian
  • rödnäbbad trutSwedish
  • Ada MartısıTurkish
  • мартин сіроногийUkrainian
  • 奥氏鸥Chinese
  • 地中海鷗Chinese
  • 地中海鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidata

Relatives of the audouin's gull

Other species in the same genus Ichthyaetus.

LC, Least Concern
Sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii)

Sooty gull

Ichthyaetus hemprichii

Laridae

CompareAudouin's gull vs Mediterranean gullAudouin's gull vs Pallas's gullAudouin's gull vs Sooty gullAudouin's gull vs White-eyed gull

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the audouin's gull?

An adult audouin's gull weighs 545.2 g and has a wingspan of 1.25 m – 1.38 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

How long does the audouin's gull live?

The audouin's gull has a recorded lifespan of 20.9 years.

What kind of animal is the audouin's gull?

The audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii) belongs to the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/audouins-gull

MLA

“Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/audouins-gull.

BibTeX
@misc{audouins_gull_2026,
  title = {Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/audouins-gull},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}