Silver Gull
Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Shorebirds and Allies)
- FamilyLaridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)
- GenusChroicocephalus (Masked Gulls and allies)
- SpeciesChroicocephalus novaehollandiae (Silver Gull)
About the Silver Gull
The silver gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) is a gull in Oceania. It is the most common gull of Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas. It is smaller than the Pacific gull (Larus pacificus), which also lives in Australia.
The silver gull should not be confused with the herring gull, which is called "silver gull" in many other languages (scientific name Larus argentatus, German Silbermöwe, French Goéland argenté, Dutch zilvermeeuw), but is a much larger, robust gull with no overlap in range.
It has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus, as is the case with many gulls, but is now placed in the genus Chroicocephalus. Hartlaub's gull (C. hartlaubii) of South Africa was formerly sometimes considered to be subspecies of the silver gull.
There are three subspecies: C. n. forsteri (Mathews, 1912) – north and northeast Australia, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands C. n. novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826) – southern Australia and Tasmania C. n. scopulinus (Forster, JR, 1844) or red-billed gull – New Zealand
The head, body, and tail of an adult silver gull are white, and the wings are... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Cape Range
Crested Tern
Thalasseus bergii
Caspian Tern
Hydroprogne caspia
Lesser Crested Tern
Thalasseus bengalensis
Fairy Tern
Sternula nereis
Little Tern
Sternula albifrons
White-winged Tern
Chlidonias leucopterus
Bridled Tern
Onychoprion anaethetus
Whiskered Tern
Chlidonias hybrida
Roseate Tern
Sterna dougallii
Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
Gull-billed Tern
Gelochelidon nilotica
Sooty Tern
Onychoprion fuscatus
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Silver Gull in Cape Range?
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Silver Gull sighting in Cape Range, based on 185 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Silver Gull in Cape Range?
November has the highest sighting rate for Silver Gull in Cape Range in our monthly data.