Kelp gull
Larus dominicanus M. H. K. Lichtenstein, 1823
The kelp gull (Larus dominicanus) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 832 g to 1.06 kg and live up to 13.1 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the kelp gull
- Weight
- 832 g – 1.06 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.28 m – 1.42 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 13.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- hookworm, leftovers, southern right whalesrc for Main food
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 28 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.35src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the kelp gull?
Where does the kelp gull live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The kelp gull is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the kelp gull?
The kelp gull (Larus dominicanus), also known as the Dominican gull, is a gull that breeds on coasts and islands through much of the Southern Hemisphere. The nominate L. d. dominicanus is the subspecies found around South America, parts of Australia (where it overlaps with the Pacific gull), and New Zealand (where it is known as the black-backed gull, the southern black-backed gull, mollyhawk – particularly the juveniles, or by its Māori name karoro). L. d. vetula (known as the Cape gull) is a subspecies occurring around Southern Africa.
The specific name comes from the Dominican Order of friars, who wear black and white habits.
From the Wikipedia article “Kelp gull” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kelp_gull&oldid=1378448881), 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 kelp gull endangered?
The kelp gull is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the kelp gull classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusLarus
- SpeciesLarus dominicanus M. H. K. Lichtenstein, 1823
Synonyms Larus dominicanus dominicanus
Other names and names in other languages (49)
- Dominican gullEnglish
- Southern black-backed gullEnglish
- Southern black-backed gullEnglish
- SwartrugmeeuAfrikaans
- نورس عشب البحرArabic
- Dominikan qağayısıAzerbaijani
- Доминиканска чайкаBulgarian
- gavià de LichtensteinCatalan
- racek jižníCzech
- gwylan y DeWelsh
- TangmågeDanish
- DominikanermöweGerman
- Dominikaner-MöweGerman
- Dominikana mevoEsperanto
- Gaviota cocineraSpanish
- Gaviota dominicanaSpanish
- Gaviota MeridionalSpanish
- LõunakajakasEstonian
- کاکایی دومینیکنPersian
- etelänselkälokkiFinnish
- Goéland dominicainFrench
- Gaivota dominicanaGalician
- שחף הקלפHebrew
- južni galebCroatian
- déli sirályHungarian
- Gabbiano del KelpItalian
- Mugnaiaccio australeItalian
- Zafferano meridionaleItalian
- ミナミオオセグロカモメJapanese
- Dominikinis kirasLithuanian
- KolokolokyMalagasy
- KaroroMāori
- Shádiʼááhdę́ę́ʼ tónteel tsídii binághah diłhiłígííNavajo
- taremåkeNorwegian Bokmål
- kelpmeeuwDutch
- TaremåseNorwegian Nynorsk
- Mewa południowaPolish
- gaivotãoPortuguese
- Gaivota-da-algasPortuguese
- gaivota-dominicanaPortuguese
- gaivota-meridionalPortuguese
- Доминиканская чайкаRussian
- čajka vznešenáSlovak
- kelptrutSwedish
- dominikanertrutSwedish
- yosun martısıTurkish
- мартин домініканськийUkrainian
- Mòng biển tảo bẹVietnamese
- 黑背鷗Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the kelp gull
Other species in the same genus Larus.
European herring gull
Larus argentatus
Common gull
Larus canus
Lesser black-backed gull
Larus fuscus
Great black-backed gull
Larus marinus
Caspian gull
Larus cachinnans
Glaucous gull
Larus hyperboreus
CompareKelp gull vs European herring gullKelp gull vs Common gullKelp gull vs Lesser black-backed gullKelp gull vs Great black-backed gull
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the kelp gull?
An adult kelp gull weighs 832 g – 1.06 kg and has a wingspan of 1.28 m – 1.42 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the kelp gull live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the kelp gull for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the kelp gull endangered?
The kelp gull is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What does the kelp gull eat?
Its recorded main food is hookworm, leftovers and southern right whale.
How long does the kelp gull live?
The kelp gull has a recorded lifespan of 13.1 years.
What kind of animal is the kelp gull?
The kelp gull (Larus dominicanus) 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.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Kelp gull (Larus dominicanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/kelp-gull
“Kelp gull (Larus dominicanus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/kelp-gull.
@misc{kelp_gull_2026,
title = {Kelp gull (Larus dominicanus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/kelp-gull},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}