Juveniles are commonly confused with black-billed gulls, as the colouring and size is similar. Its vernacular name is sometimes also used for the Dolphin Gull, a somewhat similar-looking but unrelated species. There have been no detailed studies of this ... Australia. The Red-billed Gull , once also known as the Mackerel Gull, is a native of New Zealand, being found throughout the country and on outlying islands including the Chatham Islands and Sub-antarctic islands.The Māori name of this species is Tarapunga or Akiaki. DOC is concerned there has been talk on Stewart Island that red billed gull eggs are being purposely destroyed. There are four subspecies of this bird; hartlaubii which breeds in South Africa, novaehollandiae which breeds in Australia, forsteri in the south–western Pacific from Torres Strait to New Caledonia, and scopulinus in New Zealand. The Red-billed Gull is a fairly small gull with an all red bill, red eye-ring, red legs and feet, pale gray wings with black wingtips. The Red billed Gull of New Zealand was previously thought to be a sub-species of Australia's Silver Gull, but is now regarded as a full species, albeit very similar in appearance to its Australian relation. Characters that I think make it a black-billed are 1) its bill is reasonably fine and long 2) the white on the leading edge of the closed wing seems to extend too far down the wing for a red-billed gull, 3) the wings are reasonably fine and long giving a more streamlined appearance and long projection beyond the tail. A small gull which is widely distributed around the coast of New Zealand. Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - Featherdale Wildlife Park in Australia 2) melbournian1 - Sandringham beach 3) Nik_Borrow 4) Chensiyuan - Melbourne 5) Charlie Westerinen - Syndey, Australia … I don't think that this is true? It is a fairly small gull with an all-red bill, red eye ring, red legs and feet, pale grey wings with black wingtips. Until recently it was regarded as a subspecies of the Silver Ron Johnstone at the WA Museum published a paper on Silver Gulls in Australia : Johnstone, R.E., Distribution, Status and Variation of the Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae Stephens, with Notes on the Larus cirrocephalus species-group, Records of the Western Australian Museum 1982, 10(2):133-165 The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia.It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly coastal areas. [File Photo] The Department of Conservation has been made aware of concerning talk around the deliberate killing of red-billed gulls in and around Oban, … A medium-sized gull, it’s larger than the black-billed gull, measuring 37cm and weighing 240-320grams. The South African Hartlaub's Gull (C. hartlaubii) and the New Zealand Red-billed Gull (C. scopulinus) were formerly sometimes considered to be subspecies of the Silver Gull. The present study has been confined to the population o:f gulls hatched or breeding at the Kaikoura Peninsula. The red-billed gull, the mainstay of Kiwi beaches, is "nationally vulnerable". The Red-billed Gull Larus novaehollandiae scopulinus is endemic to New Zealand and is one of the commonest gulls on the coast. Gulls. Except for a colony at Lake Rotorua, the red-billed gull rarely is found inland. The red-billed gull (Chroicocephalus scopulinus; in Māori tarapunga or akiaki), once also known as the mackerel gull, is a native of New Zealand, being found throughout NZ coastal areas and on outlying islands. Photographed in Melbourne, Australia (Richard Chong) The Red-billed Gull is native to New Zealand and it was once known as the Mackerel Gull. 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