Birds of the World
 - Armenian Gull
 - Armenian Gull
+7
 - Armenian Gull
Watch
 - Armenian Gull
Listen

Armenian Gull Larus armenicus Scientific name definitions

Joanna Burger, Michael Gochfeld, Christopher J. Sharpe, Ernest Garcia, Tim S. David, Peter Pyle, and Guy M. Kirwan
Version: 1.1 — Published September 13, 2024
Revision Notes

Sign in to see your badges

Introduction

The Armenian Gull, so named because it was originally described from Armenia, has spent most of its history in relative obscurity as a subspecies, but since the mid 1980s has been increasingly recognized as a species-level taxon. It nests in the Caucasus, through Armenia and southwest Georgia, to northeast, central, and south-central Türkiye, and northwest (locally west-central) Iran; the bulk of the population spends the non-breeding season relatively close to (but not at) the colonies, albeit also south to the eastern Mediterranean (especially Israel), in the northern Red Sea, and even less commonly in the northern Persian Gulf. Until recently, Armenian Gull was considered to be Near Threatened, but it has been downlisted to Least Concern based on a re-evaluation of its overall population size, which was estimated in 2021 to number 45,000‒73,000 individuals and is currently believed to be increasing overall. However, subpopulations in Türkiye and Iran are thought to be declining. In the past, the species was persecuted because of its perceived damage to fisheries, and its eggs were harvested for food.

Distribution of the Armenian Gull - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Armenian Gull

Recommended Citation

Burger, J., M. Gochfeld, C. J. Sharpe, E. Garcia, T. S. David, P. Pyle, and G. M. Kirwan (2024). Armenian Gull (Larus armenicus), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (G. M. Kirwan and B. K. Keeney, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.armgul1.01.1
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.