The Ivory GullPagophila eburnean- is a small gull and the species survives year-round in the High Arctic where it breeds in small, often inland, colonies scattered across barren regions. It rarely is found away from pack ice.

Description

The adult has completely white plumage, lacking the grey back of other gulls. The thick bill is blue with a yellow tip, and the legs are black.

Call

The call is a harsh tern-like eeeer.

Food

It feeds on fish, crustaceans, rodents, eggs and small chicks, but is also an opportunist scavenger. Hovers, dips, and plunges into water to get food.

Breeding

They breed on Arctic coasts and cliffs, laying one to three olive eggs in a ground nest lined with moss, lichens, or seaweed.

Conservation Status – Near threatened.

The ivory gull is globally rare and probably does not number more than 12,000 breeding pairs. The majority nest in Russia, where numbers appear to be stable.