Population status

Glaucous Gull
(Larus hyperboreus)

Population trends in this species are not well known. Intermittent surveys of Glaucous Gulls have been carried out at a number of breeding locations in the Canadian Eastern Arctic. Glaucous Gulls decreased in abundance by approximately 50% between the 1980s and 2000s in Digges Sound and the Belcher Islands, Nunavut (Gilchrist and Robertson 1999, Gaston et al. 2009). Decreases of a similar magnitude appear to have taken place at High Arctic colonies as well (Gaston et al. 2009), but only a small fraction of the breeding population is monitored. Though population abundance has increased in developed areas of Alaska (Noel at al. 2006), likely due to garbage dumps, population trends in the Western Canadian Arctic remain unclear. Numbers observed during winter are increasing in some places. Overall, the population of Glaucous Gulls in Canada has most likely decreased moderately in abundance since about 1970, though the reliability of this assessment is considered low.

 

References

  • Gaston, A.J., D.F. Bertram, A.W. Boyne, J.W. Chardine, G. Davoren, A.W. Diamond, A. Hedd, W.A. Montevecchi, J.M. Hipfner, M.J.F. Lemon, M.L. Mallory, J.-F. Rail and G.J. Robertson. 2009. Changes in Canadian seabird populations and ecology since 1970 in relation to changes in oceanography and food webs. Environmental Reviews 17:267-286.
  • Gilchrist, H.G. and G.J. Robertson. 1999. Population trends of gulls and Arctic terns nesting in the Belcher Islands, Nunavut. Arctic 52:325–331.
  • Noel, L.E., S.R. Johnson and W.J. Gazey. 2006. Oilfield development and Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) distribution and abundance in Central Alaskan Beaufort Sea lagoons, 1970–2001. Arctic 59:65-78.
  • Weiser, E., and H.G. Gilchrist. 2012. Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Weiser, E., and H.G. Gilchrist. 2012. Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)