Kelp Gulls - Antarctica
Photo: Nesting Kelp Gulls - ©2017 Kelly Burke
The Kelp Gull is a large black-backed gull with a white tail and a large yellow bill with a red spot on the lower tip. It is the second largest gull in Australia. The wing has a wide trailing edge and a small white 'window' in the wingtip. Newly-fledged Kelp Gulls are brown with paler mottling on the hind neck and breast and have a black bill. Immature Kelp Gulls have mottled brown wings and back with a whitish body and an all- yellow bill. The Kelp Gull is gregarious, and tends to roost, feed and breed in flocks
The Kelp Gull are now common in many parts of the south-east and south-west coasts of Australia, and especially in Tasmania. It is widespread in New Zealand, and is found on most sub-Antarctic islands, as well as on islands south of the Antarctic Convergence and the Antarctic Peninsula, South America, and Africa.