West Coast Pacific Gull
S2, Adult, profile, Asleep
Murray Mallee Region
West Coast Pacific Gull
S2, Adult, Calling to it's Mate (S3)
 
                      
West Coast Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus ssp georgii)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Birds (Aves)
Order: Coastal Birds (Charadriiformes)
Family: Gull (Laridae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: West Coast Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus ssp georgii)
This Photo:     🔍S6, Juvenile, profile🔎
Other names: Seagull or Western Pacific Gull

Thank you Tom Hunt (Moth_Nut) & George Seagull for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found in the Murray Mallee SA, Coastal Areas and possibly elsewhere
You can see here this is a marked difference in the colouration between adults & juveniles; with the juveniles being a sooty grey colour, while the adults are stark white and grey/black.
There is a very similar introduced/cosmopolitan species, the Kelp gull (Larus dominicanus). Still quite rare in SA fortunately, and generally only found in the very south east & Kangaroo Island. The most obvious difference being that this one, the native species, has red on both the upper & lower beak; along with a black line on the upper beak.

Copyright © 2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 10-Jul-2024
This species is classed as Va (Vagrant) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)