Movement patterns of immature Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis from Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

Abstract

The Yellow-legged Gull subspecies Larus michahellis atlantis is thought to be resident in the Macaronesia islands, however, the movement patterns of the population remain largely unknown. We conducted an eight-year (2010–19) ringing and re-sighting program on the island of Gran Canaria (GC), Canary Islands, with an aim of estimating the movement patterns of its gull populations. Re-sighting data revealed that most gulls were observed within 50 km of their natal sites; the farthest locality where studied gulls were seen was Dakhla (500 km from GC) in northwestern Africa. Our findings are compatible with the Yellow-legged Gulls adopting either a GC residency with some dispersal to other islands within the Canary Islands archipelago or to northern Africa, or a true partial migration strategy. Return to GC by some of the gulls that were observed outside GC suggests that philopatry to their natal site could be high, though this should be the focus of further investigation.