While exploring the cliffy shoreline of Acadia National Park this October, we came across the large Great Black-backed Gulls.
Being from the Midwest, I'm used to Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls and all our more diminutive gulls. I was amazed at the size of the Great Black-backed gulls - one of the largest gulls in the world. They can weigh up to five pounds with an average wingspan of 60." (Herring Gulls typically max out at under three pounds.)
The gull shown here is at least four years old. It takes that long for their adult plumage to develop.
Like other gulls, they eat a varied diet including fish, carrion, eggs, insects and the occasional McDonald's hamburger and fry.
They're primarily found along Eastern Seaboard and around the Eastern Great Lakes.
