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The Lesser Black-backed Gull breeds throughout the northeastern Atlantic. Outside the breeding season, these birds generally travel south and east, reaching the coasts of the Mediterranean, Black, North and Caspian Seas, northern and eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and northwest India. Over-wintering Lesser Black-backed Gulls are increasingly being observed on the east coasts of North America including a small number of migrants in Atlantic Canada each year. Christmas Bird Count results from this area suggest an increase in abundance since 1970. However, the Canadian population is not well covered by the survey and this assessment is considered to be of low reliability. With <1% of the world population over-wintering in Canada, conservation responsibility for this species is very low.
There are no specific conservation concerns for this species in Canada. Elsewhere, localized breeding population decreases of the Lesser Black-backed Gull have been attributed to competition and predation from larger gull species, high chick mortality from disease, high levels of bio-accumulated environmental pollutants, and food stress (Olsen and Larsson 2004, Hario et al. 2004, Camphuysen and Gronert 2012).
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.