The herring gull belongs to the class Aves, which contains all birds. More specifically, it belongs to the order Charadriiformes, the family Laridae, and the genus Larus. The scientific name for the herring gull is Larus argentatus.
Quick Answer
The herring gull belongs to the class Aves, the order Charadriiformes, the family Laridae, and the genus Larus. Its scientific name is Larus argentatus.
What is a herring gull?
The herring gull is a large gull species that lives in coastal areas across the Northern Hemisphere. They have light gray upperparts, white underparts, and black wingtips with white spots. Adult herring gulls have yellow eyes and a yellow bill with a red spot. They are noisy birds that make a variety of loud calls.
Physical characteristics
Some key physical characteristics of the herring gull include:
- Size: Length of 55-67 cm (22-26 inches), wingspan of 130-158 cm (4.3-5.2 feet), weight of 0.8-1.5 kg (1.8-3.3 lbs)
- Plumage: Light gray upperparts, white underparts, black wingtips with white spots
- Legs and feet: Pink legs, webbed feet
- Bill: Yellow with red spot
- Eyes: Pale yellow
Behavior
Herring gulls exhibit the following behavioral traits:
- Coastal habitat – Live along coasts, islands, beaches
- Scavengers – Will eat a wide variety of food, including fish, insects, eggs, garbage
- Predators – Will prey on eggs, chicks, small mammals, other birds
- Social birds – Nest in colonies, forage in flocks
- Adaptable – Thrive in human habitats like dumps, fishing harbors
Classification of the herring gull
The herring gull belongs to the following hierarchical classification:
- Kingdom: Animalia (all animals)
- Phylum: Chordata (animals with spinal cords)
- Class: Aves (birds)
- Order: Charadriiformes (gulls, auks, plovers)
- Family: Laridae (gulls)
- Genus: Larus
- Species: Larus argentatus
So in summary, the herring gull belongs to:
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Aves
- Order Charadriiformes
- Family Laridae
- Genus Larus
- Species Larus argentatus
The herring gull belongs to the class Aves, which contains all birds. Let’s look more closely at some of the higher classification levels of the herring gull.
The Aves class
The class Aves contains all bird species. With around 10,000 living species, birds are the most diverse class of terrestrial vertebrates. Some distinctive characteristics of Aves include:
- Feathers
- Wings
- Lightweight, hollow bones
- Hard-shelled eggs
- High metabolic rate
- Four-chambered hearts
- light, efficient respiratory systems
Modern birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs during the Jurassic period. Theropods like Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus were bipedal dinosaurs characterized by hollow bones and three-toed feet. Feathers likely evolved in theropods for insulation and display.
Major groups of modern birds include:
- Palaeognathae – flightless birds like ostriches, emus
- Galloanserae – chickens, ducks, geese
- Neoaves – majority of modern bird diversity
Some example birds in the class Aves:
Bird | Description |
---|---|
Ostrich | Large, flightless bird native to Africa |
Bald eagle | Large raptor, national bird of the United States |
Hummingbird | Tiny, specialized nectar-feeding birds |
Penguin | Flightless seabirds of the Southern Hemisphere |
The Charadriiformes order
The herring gull belongs to the order Charadriiformes, which contains the gulls, auks, plovers, and other shorebird families. There are over 350 species in this order worldwide. Some shared traits of Charadriiformes include:
- Primarily aquatic or shorebird habits
- Long wings
- Webbed feet
- Plumage patterns adapted for camouflage
- Small, light bodies
- Forms monogamous breeding pairs
The Charadriiformes contains four suborders:
- Lari (gulls and allies)
- Charadrii (plovers, lapwings, stilts)
- Scolopaci (sandpipers, snipes, phalaropes)
- Alcae (auks, murres, puffins)
The herring gull belongs to the Lari suborder, which contains the gulls and their relatives such as skimmers and jaegers. The Lari are found worldwide along coasts and inland water bodies. They are omnivores that feed on fish, insects, eggs, small prey, and carrion.
The Laridae family
The family Laridae contains the true gulls. There are around 55 gull species worldwide. Laridae gulls share these typical traits:
- Mostly grey or white plumage
- Long, pointed wings
- Webbed feet
- Omnivorous diet
- Noisy calls
- Found near water
- Monogamous breeding pairs
Some examples of gulls in the Laridae family include:
Gull species | Description |
---|---|
Herring gull | Common coastal gull of the Northern Hemisphere |
Ring-billed gull | Smaller inland gull of North America |
Laughing gull | Tropical and subtropical gull |
Black-headed gull | Abundant European gull |
The Laridae family is divided into multiple genera that classify gulls based on size, proportions, behavior, geographic range and other factors. The herring gull belongs to the Larus genus.
The Larus genus
The genus Larus contains the larger gull species measuring over 40 cm (16 inches) in length. There are around 25 Larus gull species worldwide. Some characteristics of this genus include:
- Large body size
- Long wings adapted for soaring flight
- Omnivorous diet
- Found in coastal regions
- Opportunistic nesters and foragers
- Aggressive behavior
Some examples of Larus gulls include:
Gull species | Description |
---|---|
Herring gull | Common large gull of the Northern Hemisphere |
Great black-backed gull | Largest gull species |
Glaucous gull | All white arctic gull |
California gull | West coast gull of North America |
The herring gull belongs to this genus of large, opportunistic coastal gulls adapted to thrive around human activity.
Conclusion
In summary, the herring gull belongs to the class Aves, which contains all bird species. More specifically, it is in the order Charadriiformes, family Laridae, and genus Larus. Its scientific name is Larus argentatus.
Some key points about the herring gull’s classification:
- Belongs to the Aves class, along with all other birds
- Within the Charadriiformes order of shorebirds and gulls
- Part of the Laridae family of true gulls
- Classified in the Larus genus of larger gull species
- Has the species name argentatus
So in summary, the herring gull belongs to the class Aves within the hierarchical scientific classification system used to categorize all living organisms.