For many people, gulls are at best ignored, and at worst hated. Even some birders dismiss them, perhaps because they can be tricky to tell apart, especially in their varied immature plumages.
But when you see an adult great black-backed gull, you are unlikely to mistake it for anything else. As one early American writer noted, this is “the king among gulls, a merciless tyrant … No weaker gull dares intrude upon its feudal domain.”
The largest of the world’s 50-plus gull species, the great black back is a true heavyweight: at 1.7 kg, it is more than 14 times heavier than the smallest member of its family, the little gull. I once saw the two together, at Cheddar reservoir, and wondered if the larger bird would eat the smaller for breakfast.
As the scientific name marinus suggests, great black-backed gulls are mainly found on the coast; I usually see them loafing on the beaches by the Parrett estuary. They stand out from the smaller lesser black-backed gull, not just because of their huge size but also their deep-black wings, compared with the dark grey of their cousin.
Unlike the lesser black-backed, this species is rarely found inland: something the local herring gulls have used to their advantage. They now nest on roofs in nearby Bridgwater, where the predatory great black backs do not venture.
