Seabird Picture of the Month, November 2003:
Ivory Gull
photo and text by Bruce Mactavish

This month's picture is of an adult Ivory Gull ( Pagophila eburnea ) . It is one of few birds in the world—and the only gull— that has an entirely white plumage. It is also unique among gulls in that it generally lives on sea ice (not to mention that it has an orange tipped green-blue bill) where it often scavenges carcasses of marine mammals killed by polar bears. This bird was photographed at Ferryland , Newfoundland, a couple of hundred miles south of where they normally winter on the pack ice that blankets the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador during winter. It takes an unusual event-- such as a strong storm with persistent northerly winds during winter-- to bring an Ivory Gull (or “Ice Partridge” as they are locally known) to southern Newfoundland. Although they prefer to sit on ice and not to sit on the water, they will do so when feeding on amphipods and other small crustaceans.

The Ivory Gull is one of the most sought after of all birds by birdwatchers because of their exquisite beauty and the fact that they live in places that are inaccessible to the average person such as the northern extremities of Canada, Russia and Greenland. The transparent white lace-like plumage, long tapered wings, plump chest and small rounded head, graceful flight and habit of living on ice floes create an irresistible charisma. Very few Ivory Gulls were found at known breeding sites in Arctic Canada during the summer of 2002 and 2003, and this if of great concern to biologists. Populations in Canada may have declined by 90% during the past 20 years. The species was never abundant, and like lichen and caribou, the Ivory Gull— an Arctic Ocean specialist— is a barometer of the health of our northern ecosystems. It deserves special attention and monitoring by scientists.

Bruce Mactavish (a.k.a. Dr. Dovekie ) is an avid field birder living in St. John's, Newfoundland. He is a regional editor for North American Birds and is a birding tour leader for WINGS . Bruce can be reached by email at bruce.mactavish1@nf.sympatico.ca

For more on the Ivory Gull, go here to Environment Canada.

To see Bruce getting a very close look at an Ivory Gull, check out Stuart Tingley's photo here .

Click here for a wav file or click here for a mpg file to listen to Stuart Tingley's recording of Ivory Gulls vocalizing while hovering over a seal carcass.

To learn more about other seabirds, browse the Seabird Flash Cards on the Seabird Page of this website.