California Gull Skull Replica
$91.00
The California gull (Larus californicus) is a medium-sized gull that lives not just in California, but up and down the entire Western coast of North America, and has breeding ground inland. The yellow bill has a black ring.
- Description
- Additional information
Description
California Gull Skull Replica (Larus californicus) Information
California gull skull replica measures 4.9 inches. Larus californicus is museum-quality polyurethane resin cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium and mandible) 1:1 scale. Made in USA.
A common winter gull of the West Coast, the California Gull breeds inland across large areas of the West. It can be found in parking lots and lakes from California to Manitoba.
The average California gull is around 54 cm long and weighs about 600 g. While there are no differences in male and female plumage, males are usually larger than females, with a larger bill, head, and tarsi.
When the California Gull is newly born it has a thick, soft down of light colors that blend in with the surrounding environment.
By the California Gull juvenile’s first winter, it has a brown mantle and wings, a brown head, and pink tinted legs. When the bird is around two years old the tail becomes white and the bill turns yellow.
When the gull reaches its third year, it almost is completely like the adult in appearance, but the adult bill pattern and wing pattern are not completely developed.
By the fourth winter the bird has an adult’s white head, dark grey mantle, yellow green legs, reddish eye ring, and black wingtips.
In California, the California Gull recently held the protected status California Species of Special Concern due to declining numbers at their historic California breeding colony at Mono Lake.
However, in recent decades the Larus californicus has begun to breed in the southern portion of San Francisco Bay, where it did not historically breed.
It has undergone exponential population growth. These California gulls now inhabit large, remote salt-production ponds and levees.
Larus californicus forage in flight or pick up objects while swimming, walking or wading. They mainly eat insects, fish and the eggs and young of other birds, such as ducklings.
Scientific Classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Charadriiformes
- Family: Laridae
- Genus: Larus
- Species: L. californicus
- Binomial name: Larus californicus
- Conservation status: Least concern
The California gull is a versatile scavenger whose osteology features a specialized hooked bill adapted for a diverse diet. Biologists study these 1:1 scale casts to analyze the cranial structure of this iconic bird. Expand your avian research collection with the American crow skull, common raven skull, and turkey vulture skull. Find more high-fidelity specimens available in our bird or aves replica store.
Additional information
| Weight | 3.0 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 4.9 in |
