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Systematics
Geographic Variation; Subspecies
Monotypic. European and North American individuals found not to differ appreciably by Dwight (1925).
Related Species
Some authors consider Great Black-backed and Kelp gulls to constitute a superspecies; other authors ally Kelp Gull with Western Gull (Am. Ornithol. Union 1983). Close genetic similarity among large, “white-headed” gulls supports conclusion of recent divergence. Little allozyme differentiation among Canadian, Icelandic, and European populations of Great Black-backed, Glaucous, Herring, Yellow-legged (Larus cachinnans), Lesser Black-backed, and Iceland (L. glaucoides) gulls. Extremely small Nei’s D values of genetic distance (0.000–0.009) and Roger’s D distances of genetic differentiation (0.004–0.032) indicate near genetic identity among species (Snell 1991). Overall karyotype similar to that of Herring Gull and Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla). Minor differences among species in position of centromere on chromosome; chromosome 8 is metacentric (centromere lies in middle) in Great Black-backed Gull and submetacentric in Herring Gull and Black-legged Kittiwake, and chromosome 10 is metacentric in Great Black-backed Gull and acrocentric (centromere near end) in Herring Gull and Black-legged Kittiwake (Bartlett and Threlfall 1987).
Presumed hybrids with Herring Gulls reported from Devon, England (Rooke 1961); around Staten I., NY (Jehl 1960); Queenston (Andrle 1972, 1973), Kingston (Godfrey 1973), and Ottawa, Ontario (Foxall 1979); and Cape Ann, MA (R. Pierotti pers. comm.). Four probable hybrids with Herring Gulls described at coastal sites in Massachusetts (Veit and Petersen 1993). Presumed hybrids with Glaucous Gulls reported from Limerick, Ireland (Wilson 1951).
Good, Thomas P. 1998. Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/330
