Birda Logo
Features
Birda+
About
Species Guide
Challenges
Shop
loading...
A photo of a Armenian Gull (Larus armenicus)
Armenian Gull

Armenian Gull

Larus armenicus

The Armenian gull (Larus armenicus) is a member of the gull family, Laridae, recognized for its fairly large size within the "herring gull" complex. This species exhibits a wingspan ranging from 120 to 145 cm and a body length between 52 to 62 cm, with an average weight of 600 to 960 grams. It is the smallest within its complex.

Identification Tips

Adult Armenian gulls are distinguished by their slightly darker grey backs compared to their yellow-legged counterparts, coupled with dark eyes. The wingtips are adorned with a more extensive area of black, punctuated by smaller white spots. A notable feature is the short bill, accented with a distinct black band near the tip. Juveniles display a predominantly brown plumage with a pale rump, lighter inner primary feathers, and a narrow, well-defined black band on the tail.

Habitat

The Armenian gull breeds beside mountain lakes, favoring the high-altitude aquatic environments of Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, and western Iran.

Distribution

This species is known to nest in significant numbers at Lake Sevan and Lake Arpi in Armenia. As a partial migrant, the Armenian gull winters along the coasts of Turkey, Lebanon, and Israel, with smaller contingents reaching as far as Cyprus, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf.

Behaviour

During the breeding season, Armenian gulls form dense colonies with nests in close proximity, leading to frequent territorial disputes among the birds.

Breeding

The nest of the Armenian gull is a mound of vegetation situated on the ground, often on an island or lakeshore. The typical clutch consists of three eggs, predominantly laid in late April. The high density of nesting sites within colonies is a hallmark of this species' breeding behavior.

Similar Species

The Armenian gull bears a striking resemblance to the California gull (Larus californicus) due to its dark mantle, bill markings, and dark eye, despite their non-overlapping ranges.

Conservation status

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified the Armenian gull as Least Concern, indicating that the species does not currently face an immediate threat of extinction.

App logo
Birda is a birdwatching app and community aimed at curious people who want to deepen their connection with nature.

Armenian Gulls on Birda

Photos
Sightings

More Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Birda Logo

Your birdwatching journey like never before

Connect with nature in minutes
Take a walk, look out of the window and log the birds that you see. Feel good about those little connections to nature.
Discover the joy of birding
Find new birding spots, see more birds, share and celebrate with a like-minded community of nature lovers.
Play your part in saving nature
Logging your birding sightings and sessions turns into positive action for our planet. Every sighting counts.

Birda Blog

What Our Birders Say
Chudbond
Love Birda
I love this app. It really encourages you to log your sightings and the community is friendly and helpful.
Robred 2
Fun way to add to your birdwatching experience
I enjoy watching birds in my backyard, but this app helped me really pay attention while on vacation this summer. It was fun to add new birds to my bird watching app.
Jake W
Great app
I use this app all the time as it’s quick and easy to log individual sightings or whole birding sessions. It’s an excellent way to meet new people and the forum is full of really friendly people. The challenges are a great way to get involved and learn more about birds. Cannot recommend it enough!
Erna M
I really like Birda
I really like Birda. I also use other birding apps and have Birda with E-bird going at the same time.
Safira V
Birding and wellbeing app
Birda is an excellent platform to share your love of Birding and is a great tool of encouragement for a Birding Beginner like me. Birda has a very kind and supportive community of Birding enthusiasts. For me BIRDA is not only a BIRDING but also a WELLBEING App.
Abi.M
Awesome App
I really enjoy using this app! It is such a friendly community of bird-lovers who are happy to help if I need ID advice. It’s been great motivation to get outdoors and go birding more! 10/10 😍😍
Bryan C
Clean and easy to use
Really enjoying this app, it's clean and easy to use. I love the ease of being able to add those one-off birds without starting a whole checklist. I also like the social aspect, like the parts of my Facebook I like, without the ads and junk, just birds. Can't wait to see it become more populated.
SW H
Wonderful App
Birda is my go to app for keeping records of my bird sightings and sessions. It has fantastic information which is great at aiding identification. With all the updates that are coming in the new year, this app is something special.
Hip An
Fantastic
Really enjoying Birda where I live i have a lot of Red kites really hard to photograph but I can video are you planning some place on the app where us Birda can post vids🦉🦅
Leonie
We've been waiting for an App like this
Excellent! We've been waiting for an app like this! Thank you! It would be nice if you could assign additional birds to sessions later!
As featured in
Birda Logo
AboutPressAmbassadorsAffiliatesInfluencersCareersPrivacyTerms & Conditions
An app for birdwatchers
Connect with us
Copyright © 2024 Chirp Birding. All rights reserved.