#0759 · 🐦 birds

Glaucous Gull

🇳🇱 Grote Burgemeester ·Larus hyperboreus

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands

7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The glaucous gull ( Larus hyperboreus ) is a large gull, the second largest gull in the world which breeds in Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and winters south to shores of the Holarctic. The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird.

base stats

NL sightings 45iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 9,000iNaturalist observations
weight 1.6 kgadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 45 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
9,000 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs up to about 1.6 kg.
Scientifically named by Johan Ernst Gunnerus in 1767 (259 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Glaucous Gull
Nederlands: Grote Burgemeester
scientific name: Larus hyperboreus
class: Aves
order: Charadriiformes
family: Laridae
IUCN Red List: LC · least concern
sightings in NL: 45
sightings in Europe: 2,023
sightings worldwide: 9,000
GBIF records in NL: 15,336
weight: 1.6 kg
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1767 by Johan Ernst Gunnerus

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

relatives· Laridae

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 4349, Wikidata Q27375, GBIF 2481127, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.