Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull chicks.

Our biggest gull, the Great Black-backed Gull, whose principal breeding grounds in Denmark are the islands in the Kattegat, was first seen breeding on Øksneholm in 1980. It has since spread throughout the fjord and now also breeds on the southernmost islets – Ringøen and Skovholmene.

It arrived in the fjord at the same time as the Eider (Somateria mollissima), which had previously only been found in more marine habitats. In Isefjord a large number of Great Black-backed Gulls breed on the islands south of Orø. Many of these died of avian cholera in the summers of 2001 and 2002 as a result of eating dead Eider. A number of the Great Black-backed Gull ringed in Roskilde Fjord have been sighted in winter in north German Baltic sites.




Key to the Distribution Map.

Great Black-backed Gull - population trends