Appearance:

Slightly smaller than Eider. Male at close range unmistakable. At a distance the black back is diagnostic. Female similar to female Eider, but feathering on bill is not reaching nostrils, giving the bird a peculiar "smile". Head shape is less triangular with a steeper forehead, and nail of bill is black. V-shaped barring on flanks.

Sound:

Male: Calls similar to Eider but easily distinguished by the vibrating quality. A "aaaooooooh" (shorter in duration than Eider) Starting on a low note, slowly ascending and ending on a descending note with a distinct vibrato/pulse. Often in the form of three calls: "oohh, a-ohhh hahahaoohohohoh". Usually accompanied by the female "ga ga ga ga".

Display-calls:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

Sounds:Recorded by Andrew Spencer,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license

Appearance:

Small and agile gull with all black wing-tips, black legs (adults) and yellow bill. Area close to wing-tips much paler than rest of wings, and often visible at surprisingly long range (more so than the black tips). Adult winter with grey neck and black half-collar. Juveniles with black zig-zag pattern to wings, resembling pattern seen in Little Gull, Ross's Gull and Sabine's Gull. Differs from those in; no dark bar on secondaries, underparts of wing white, back grey, black on primaries reaches wing-tip. Flight action different from larger gulls; fast, stiff wing-beats and elegant maneuvering even in strong winds.

Sound:

Highly vocal at breeding ground. A mewing "kitti-wake", with the pitch rising on the second drawn out syllable, and then falling. Generally silent elsewhere, except when squabbling over food.

Contact call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Sounds:Recorded by Stein Ø. Nilsen,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license