Pacific gull

Pacific gull
L. p. pacificus, Freycinet Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Larus
Species:
L. pacificus
Binomial name
Larus pacificus
Latham, 1801
Subspecies

L. p. pacificus Latham, 1801
L. p. georgis King, 1826

The Pacific gull (Larus pacificus) is a gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a result of competition from the kelp gull.

Much larger than the ubiquitous silver gull, and much less common, Pacific gulls are usually seen alone or in pairs, loafing around the shoreline, steadily patrolling high above the edge of the water, or sometimes flying high on the breeze to drop a shellfish or sea urchin onto rocks.