Glaucous Gulls breed across the circumpolar Arctic, and in Canada, are found from northern Labrador to the High Arctic. Surveys in the Eastern and High Arctic indicate decreases in abundance, although these surveys have been intermittent and capture only a fraction of the population. Results from the Christmas Bird Count also suggest that the wintering population is decreasing, though part of this pattern may be due to redistribution. Overall, the Canadian population has likely decreased moderately in abundance since about 1970, though the reliability of this assessment is considered to be low.
Glaucous Gulls in Canada and across the circumpolar Arctic have been found to carry high levels of contaminants, such as persistent organic compounds and heavy metals (Weiser and Gilchrist 2012). Other threats facing the species include egg harvest, food shortages, and possible threats occurring throughout the non-breeding range (Petersen et al. 2015). Increased egg and chick predation and/or nest desertion due to disturbance is a growing concern, as reduced sea ice is forcing polar bears to search for alternate prey on land making ground-nesting seabirds easy targets (Kuletz et al. 2017 and references therein). Glaucous Gulls frequently forage at garbage dumps around Arctic communities and outside the Arctic during winter. This has contributed to an observed increase in abundance in Alaska (Noel at al. 2006). The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna program has chosen the Glaucous Gull as one of a small group of seabird species to be monitored by all circumpolar countries (with a focus on population trends, annual reproduction, and contaminants; Weiser and Gilchrist 2012), though trend information from Canada remains unavailable (Kuletz et al. 2017).
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.
