Black-tailed Gull

A typical Japanese seagull with a cat-like cry.

Scientific name	Larus crassirostris
English name	Black-tailed Gull
Japanese name	海猫
Classification	Aves
Classification details	Charadriiformes Laridae
Full length	47cm
Distribution	Japan, Eastern Eurasia

Characteristics

A seagull that lives and breeds all year round in Japan. You can see them all year round on the coast. Feet and beak are yellow. Both the top and bottom of the beak are red. It also features a black band running along its tail feathers. They are called black-tailed gulls because of their meowing sound that resembles that of a cat. Kabushima in Hachinohe City and Kyojima in Izumo City are protected as breeding grounds, and they also breed on the Sanriku coast.

Ecology

Inhabits coastal estuaries. They are omnivorous and eat anything, including fish and crustaceans. Forms colonies on rocks and grasslands to breed. They move in groups, gather on rocks or tetrapods, and take off all at once. You can instantly take off from the state of floating on the surface of the sea.

Habitat

They were gathered at Nobuse Port on Shikinejima Island. A local fisherman was dumping dead spiny lobsters in a fish tank into the port, and they seemed to be aiming for them. After a group of noisily chirping, they took off all at once. There are several hundred birds in the tetrapods of Nobushi Port and on the cliffs on the opposite bank, and several of them followed Sarubiamaru to the neighboring Niijima Island.