Yellow-legged gull
Larus michahellis J. F. Naumann, 1840
The yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.02 kg to 1.16 kg and live up to 32 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the yellow-legged gull
- Weight
- 1.02 kg – 1.16 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.2 m – 1.4 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 32 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 49 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 26 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 4 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the yellow-legged gull?
Where does the yellow-legged gull live?
Not recorded
What is the yellow-legged gull?
The yellow-legged gull or western yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of either the Caspian gull L. cachinnans, or more broadly as a subspecies of the herring gull L. argentatus.
The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and the species name honours the German zoologist Karl Michahelles.
From the Wikipedia article “Yellow-legged gull” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow-legged_gull&oldid=1374819964), 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.
What does the yellow-legged gull sound like?
Is the yellow-legged gull endangered?
The yellow-legged 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 yellow-legged gull classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusLarus
- SpeciesLarus michahellis J. F. Naumann, 1840
Synonyms Larus argentatus michaellis, Larus cachinnans michahellis, Larus michaellis, Larus michahelles
Other names and names in other languages (74)
- نورس أصفر الساقArabic
- Gaviota patiamariellaAragonese
- gaviota caseraAsturian
- Чайка-рагатухаBelarusian
- Жоўтаногая чайкаBelarusian
- Чайка жоўтаногаяBelarusian
- Средиземноморска жълтонога чайкаBulgarian
- Gouelan gris ar C'hreisteizBreton
- Gavià ArgentatCatalan
- Gavià argentat de potes groguesCatalan
- gavià de potes groguesCatalan
- Gavina de Mantell BlauCatalan
- Acula marinaCorsican
- racek středomořskýCzech
- Gwylan GoesfelenWelsh
- middelhavssølvmågeDanish
- Middelhavs-sølvmågeDanish
- Middelhavsmåge MiddelhavssølvmågeDanish
- MittelmeermöweGerman
- ΑσημόγλαροςGreek
- ΧιντιανόγλαροςGreek
- Ασημόγλαρος της ΜεσογείουGreek
- flavkrura mevoEsperanto
- Gaviota patiamarillaSpanish
- lõuna-hõbekajakasEstonian
- Kaio hankahoriaBasque
- کاکایی لنگزردPersian
- etelänharmaalokkiFinnish
- Valkopäälokki KeltajalkalokkiFinnish
- GabianFrench
- Goéland leucophéeFrench
- Faoileán scadán cosbhuíIrish
- Foillan cass-wuighScottish Gaelic
- Gaivota patiamarelaGalician
- שחף צהוב-רגלHebrew
- galeb klaukavacCroatian
- sárgalábú sirályHungarian
- Միջերկրածովյան որորArmenian
- KlapparmáfurIcelandic
- Gabbiano realeItalian
- Gabbiano reale mediterraneoItalian
- Gabbiano reale zampegialleItalian
- キアシセグロカモメJapanese
- MëttelmierméiwLuxembourgish
- Oca ciapæaLigurian
- geltonkojis kirasLithuanian
- Vidusjūras kaijaLatvian
- жолтоног галебMacedonian
- കാസ്പിയൻ കടൽകാക്കMalayalam
- Gawwija PrimaMaltese
- gulbeinmåkeNorwegian Bokmål
- पहेंलोखुट्टे गंगाचीलNepali
- geelpootmeeuwDutch
- gulbeinmåseNorwegian Nynorsk
- GulbeingråmåkeNorwegian
- mewa romańskaPolish
- gaivota-de-patas-amarelasPortuguese
- Muetta dal chau alvRomansh
- Pescăruş cu picioare galbeneRomanian
- Средиземноморская чайкаRussian
- FiskesjuolskávliNorthern Sami
- čajka žltonoháSlovak
- rumenonogi galebSlovenian
- Pulëbardha këmbëverdhëAlbanian
- Morski galebSerbian
- Морски галебSerbian
- medelhavstrutSwedish
- Gümüş MartıTurkish
- мартин скельнийUkrainian
- Mòng biển chân vàngVietnamese
- Pescăruș cu picioare galbenewkd
- 黃腿鷗Chinese
- 黃腳銀鷗Chinese
- 黄腿银鸥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the yellow-legged 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
CompareYellow-legged gull vs European herring gullYellow-legged gull vs Common gullYellow-legged gull vs Lesser black-backed gullYellow-legged gull vs Great black-backed gull
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the yellow-legged gull?
An adult yellow-legged gull weighs 1.02 kg – 1.16 kg and has a wingspan of 1.2 m – 1.4 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the yellow-legged gull endangered?
The yellow-legged gull is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the yellow-legged gull live?
The yellow-legged gull has a recorded lifespan of 32 years.
What kind of animal is the yellow-legged gull?
The yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) 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). Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-legged-gull
“Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-legged-gull.
@misc{yellow_legged_gull_2026,
title = {Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-legged-gull},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}