Atlantic Yellow-legged Gull (atlantis)

(last update: October 12, 2011)

Atlantic YLG 1cy July - August

Atlantic Yellow-legged Gull is mainly known from the Azores, and it may also occur on Madeira and Canary Islands. It has a population estimate of 6,000 at Madeira/Desertas and about 2,000 on Azores islands.
Rami Mizrachi, who spend some time in October at the Azores, observed this species on all four islands, in a variety of habitats, beaches, landfills and fields. Largest numbers occured on Terceira and São Miguel, in the order of up to 1,000 individuals per day on either island.
Main location on Terceira was the landfill (called Terceira landfill / rubbish dump) with several hundreds of gulls (birds also observed in the adjacent fields in the upper parts of the island).
On São Miguel two main concentrations were on the beach, not far from Ponta Delgada: one concentration at Populo and Praia, and a second concentration at ETAR wader site. Good numbers were also present at Ponta Delgada harbor pier, often in the afternoon.
Small number of individuals were counted on the island of Corvo, in the order of about 20 individuals in a landfill on the north-western end of the airport.