View source for Pallas's gull

{{Taxobox
| image = Larus ichtyaetus 1.png
| name = Pallas's gull
| status= LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref=<ref name=iucn>{{cite journal |last1=Butchart |first1=S. |last2=Symes |first2=A. |title=''Larus ichthyaetus'' |journal=[[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] |volume=2012 |page=e.T22694379A38839205 |publisher=[[IUCN]] |year=2012 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T22694379A38839205.en |accessdate=27 April 2016}}</ref>
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[Charadriiformes]]
| familia = [[Laridae]]
| genus = ''[[Ichthyaetus]]''
| species = '''''I. ichthyaetus'''''
| binomial = ''Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus''
| binomial_authority = ([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1773)
| synonyms = ''Larus ichthyaetus''
}}

The '''Pallas's gull''' or '''great black-headed gull''' (''Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus'') is a large [[gull]]. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus ''[[Larus]]''.<ref name=Pons2005/> The scientific name is from [[Ancient Greek]]. ''Ichthyaetus'' is from ''ikhthus'', "fish", and ''aetos'', "eagle".<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page =224}}</ref>

==Distribution==
[[File:Pallas's Gull Assuming breeding plumage.jpg|thumb|at Kutch]]
This species breeds in colonies in marshes and islands from southern [[Russia]] to [[Mongolia]]. It is [[bird migration|migratory]], wintering in the eastern [[Mediterranean]], [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] and [[India]]. This gull nests on the ground, laying between two and four eggs.

It occurs in western [[Europe]] only as a rare vagrant. In [[Great Britain]] a recent review left a single occurrence in 1859 as the only acceptable record of this bird. The species also occurs as a vagrant in differing parts of the [[Indian Ocean]], south of its normal range, and along the northern and eastern coasts of [[Africa]], where it visits annually on an irregular basis.<ref name=Stevenson2001/>

[[File:Larus ichthyaetus.jpg|thumb|left|A juvenile]]
[[File:Larus ichthyaetus MWNH 0348.JPG|left|thumb|Egg, collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]], [[Germany]]]]

==Description==
This is a very large gull, being easily the world's largest black-headed gull and the third largest species of gull in the world, after the [[great black-backed gull]] and the [[glaucous gull]]. It measures {{convert|55|-|72|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length with a {{convert|142|to|170|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan.<ref name=Panayotov/><ref name=Olsen/><ref name=Harrison/> Weight can vary from {{convert|0.96|-|2.1|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, with an average of {{convert|1.6|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in males and {{convert|1.22|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in females.<ref name=CRC/> Among standard measurements, the [[Wing chord (biology)|wing chord]] is {{convert|43.5|to|52|cm|in|abbr=on}}, the bill is {{convert|4.7|to|7.3|cm|in|abbr=on}} and the [[Tarsus (skeleton)|tarsus]] is {{convert|6.5|to|8.4|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Olsen/> Summer adults are unmistakable, since no other gull of this size has a black hood. The adults have grey wings and back, with conspicuous white "mirrors" at the wing tips. The legs are yellow and the bill is orangey-yellow with a red tip.

In all other plumages, a dark mask through the eye indicates the vestiges of the hood. The call is a deep ''aargh'' cry. Young birds attain largely grey upperparts quite rapidly, but they take four years to reach maturity.

==Ecology==
This bird has a deep, rather nasal flight-call which resembles the call of the [[lesser black-backed gull]]. Although they are noisy at colonies, Pallas's gulls are mostly silent when breeding.

These birds are predatory, taking fish, crustaceans, insects and even small mammals.

The Pallas's gull is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' ([[AEWA]]) applies.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Pallas's Gull (Larus ichthyaetus) W IMG 6954.jpg|In flight [[Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]].
File:Larus ichtyaetus 3.png|Adult with chick, [[Manych River]], [[Kalmykia]], [[Russia]].
</gallery>

==References==
<!-- Forktail15:87. -->
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=CRC>{{cite book |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |editor-first=John B., Jr. |editor-last=Dunning |publisher=CRC Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8493-4258-5}}</ref>

<ref name=Harrison>{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Peter |title=Seabirds: An Identification Guide |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-395-60291-1}}</ref>

<ref name=Olsen>{{cite book |title=Gulls: of North America, Europe, and Asia |first1=Klaus Malling |last1=Olsen |first2=Hans |last2=Larsson |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0691119977}}</ref>

<ref name=Panayotov>{{cite web |first=Sergey |last=Panayotov |url=http://birdsinbulgaria.org/?l=en |title=Birds in Bulgaria |publisher=Birds in Bulgaria |accessdate=19 October 2011}}</ref>

<ref name=Pons2005>{{cite journal |last1=Pons |first1=J.M. |last2=Hassanin |first2=A. |last3=Crochet |first3=P.A. |year=2005 |title=Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=686–699 |pmid=16054399 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790305001776 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.05.011}}</ref>

<ref name=Stevenson2001>{{cite book |title=Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi |last1=Stevenson |first1=Terry |last2=Fanshawe |first2=John |publisher=Elsevier Science |year=2001 |isbn=978-0856610790}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus}}
{{wikispecies|Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus}}
* {{BirdLife|22694379|Larus ichthyaetus}}
* {{Avibase|name=Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus}}
* {{InternetBirdCollection|great-black-headed-gull-larus-ichthyaetus|Great black-headed gull}}
* {{VIREO|Great+Black-headed+Gull|Great black-headed gull}}
* {{IUCN_Map|22694379|Larus ichthyaetus}}
* {{Xeno-canto species|Ichthyaetus|ichthyaetus|Pallas's gull}}
* {{field guide birds of the world|Larus ichthyaetus}}
* {{ARKive}}

{{Gulls}}

{{taxonbar}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:gull, Pallas's}}
[[Category:Larus|Pallas's gull]]
[[Category:Birds of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Birds of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Asian migratory birds]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1773|Pallas's gull]]