Habitat
Marine and freshwater coasts, tundra, offshore islands or islands in lakes or rivers, cliffs, shorelines, ice edges during breeding season (Sage 1974, Gilchrist 2001). Nests on cliffs, rocky coasts, islets in and borders of tundra lakes, coastal dunes. Also low islands and sandbars usually on or near coast; inland river bars; most common on barrier islands immediately offshore from rivers that flood in spring and thereby isolate the island from foxes (Johnson and Herter 1989). At inland sites, prefer to nest on large ponds (Gilchrist 2001).
References
Gilchrist, H. G. 2001. Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus). In The Birds of North America, No.573 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, AK. 372 pp.
Sage, B. L. 1974. Ecological distribution of birds in the Atigun and Sagavanirktok River Valleys, arctic Alaska. Canadian Field-Naturalist 88:281-291.
