page_title: Belcher's gull
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Belcher's gull / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: Español: Gaviota peruana (Larus belcheri), Puerto de Paracas, PerúEnglish: Peruvian seagull (Larus belcheri), Port of Paracas, Peru
context_page_description: Belcher's gull, also known as the band-tailed gull, is a bird in the family Laridae found along the Pacific coast of South America. It formerly included the very similar Olrog's gull as a subspecies, but that bird occurs on the Atlantic coast of South America and is now accepted as Larus atlanticus. Belcher's gull is a medium-sized gull with a blackish mantle, white head and underparts, a black band on the otherwise white tail, and a yellow bill with a red and black tip. Non-breeding adults have a brownish-black head and a white eye-ring. The name of this bird commemorates the British explorer Sir Edward Belcher who performed survey work on the Pacific coast of South America.
context_section_description: Belcher's gull is an omnivore and scavenger. It feeds on fish, crabs, molluscs and carrion, and seasonally on the eggs and nestlings of seabirds. It often associates with Guanay cormorants, pestering them until they regurgitate their prey which it then consumes.
  Breeding takes place from December onwards in small colonies of up to one hundred pairs. The nest is a scrape in the sand or among rocks near the high tide line. There are usually three eggs averaging 65 by 45 mm (2.6 by 1.8 in), pale blotched with dark olive markings.
caption: Looking for food in the beach in Peru
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