© James Hully
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus Scientific name definitions
- LC Least Concern
- Names (79)
- Subspecies (5)
Joanna Burger, Michael Gochfeld, Guy M. Kirwan, David Christie, and Eduardo de Juana
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated August 21, 2017
Text last updated August 21, 2017
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Species names in eBird-supported languages
| Language | Common name |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Kleinswartrugmeeu |
| Albanian | Pulëbardha mesatare shpinëzezë |
| Arabic | نورس أغبس |
| Armenian | Փոքր ծովաորոր |
| Asturian | Gaviota escura |
| Azerbaijani | Kiçik qarabel qağayı |
| Bangla | গাঙচিল |
| Bangla (Bangladesh) | গাঙচিল |
| Bangla (India) | কালোপিঠ গাঙচিল |
| Basque | Kaio iluna |
| Bulgarian | Малка черногърба чайка |
| Catalan | gavià fosc |
| Chinese | 小黑背鷗 |
| Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China) | 小黑背鷗 |
| Chinese (SIM) | 小黑背鸥 |
| Croatian | tamnoleđi galeb |
| Czech | racek žlutonohý |
| Danish | Sildemåge |
| Dutch | Kleine mantelmeeuw |
| English | Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| English (AVI) | Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| English (United States) | Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| Estonian | tõmmukajakas |
| Faroese | Likka |
| Finnish | selkälokki |
| French | Goéland brun |
| Galician | Gaivota escura |
| Georgian | შავზურგა თოლია (ფრთაშავი თოლია) |
| German | Heringsmöwe |
| Greek | Μελανόγλαρος |
| Gujarati | ધોમડો |
| Haitian Creole (Haiti) | Ti Mòv do nwa |
| Hebrew | שחף שחור |
| Hungarian | Heringsirály |
| Icelandic | Sílamáfur |
| Indonesian | Camar punggung-hitam |
| Italian | Zafferano |
| Japanese | ニシセグロカモメ |
| Kannada | ಕಪ್ಪು ಬೆನ್ನಿನ ಕಡಲಕ್ಕಿ |
| Kazakh | Бозшағала |
| Korean | 검은등갈매기 |
| Kyrgyz | Кичине кара жондүү чардак |
| Latvian | Reņģu kaija |
| Lithuanian | Silkinis kiras |
| Malayalam | ഹ്യുഗ്ലിനി/സ്റ്റപ്പ് കടൽക്കാക്ക |
| Marathi | काळ्या पाठीचा कुरव |
| Mongolian | Бэсрэг цахлай |
| Nepali (Nepal) | कृष्णपङ्ख गङ्गाचील |
| Norwegian | sildemåke |
| Persian | کاکایی پشتسیاه کوچک |
| Polish | mewa żółtonoga |
| Portuguese (Angola) | Gaivota-d'asa-escura |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | gaivota-da-asa-escura |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | Gaivota-d'asa-escura |
| Punjabi (India) | ਸਾਂਵਲ ਡਮਰਾ/ਸਾਵਾ ਡਮਰਾ |
| Romanian | Pescăruș negricios |
| Russian | Клуша |
| Serbian | Mrki galeb |
| Slovak | čajka tmavá |
| Slovenian | Rjavi galeb |
| Spanish | Gaviota Sombría |
| Spanish (Argentina) | Gaviota Sombría |
| Spanish (Costa Rica) | Gaviota Sombria |
| Spanish (Cuba) | Gallegón Pequeño de Espalda Negra |
| Spanish (Dominican Republic) | Gaviota Sombria |
| Spanish (Ecuador) | Gaviota Dorsinegra Menor |
| Spanish (Honduras) | Gaviota Sombría |
| Spanish (Mexico) | Gaviota Sombría |
| Spanish (Panama) | Gaviota Dorsinegra Menor |
| Spanish (Puerto Rico) | Gaviota Sombría |
| Spanish (Spain) | Gaviota sombría |
| Spanish (Venezuela) | Gaviota Dorsinegra Menor |
| Swedish | silltrut |
| Tajik | Моҳихураки пуштсиёҳи хурд |
| Thai | นกนางนวลหลังดำเล็ก/นกนางนวลหลังดำพันธุ์รัสเซีย/นกนางนวลหลังดำทุ่งหญ้าสเต็ป |
| Turkish | Kara Sırtlı Martı |
| Ukrainian | Мартин чорнокрилий |
| Welsh | gwylan gefnddu fach |
| Zulu | unochwebomhlanomnyama |
Larus fuscus Linnaeus, 1758
PROTONYM:
Larus fuscus
Linnaeus, 1758. Systema Naturæ per Regna Tria Naturæ, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata 1, p.136.
TYPE LOCALITY:
Europe, restricted type locality, Sweden.
SOURCE:
Avibase, 2025
Definitions
- LARUS
- fuscus
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, misspellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
Originally Appeared in
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Introduction
Subspecies
EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (fuscus) Larus fuscus fuscus Scientific name definitions
Distribution
Baltic Sea and Finland E to White Sea; winters mostly in Africa and SW Asia.
Larus fuscus fuscus Linnaeus, 1758
PROTONYM:
Larus fuscus
Linnaeus, 1758. Systema Naturæ per Regna Tria Naturæ, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata 1, p.136.
TYPE LOCALITY:
Europe, restricted type locality, Sweden.
SOURCE:
Avibase, 2025
Definitions
- LARUS
- fuscus
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, misspellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (intermedius) Larus fuscus intermedius Scientific name definitions
Distribution
Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, coastal Norway and SW Sweden, with isolated population in NE Spain (Ebro Delta); winters mostly in W Europe and W Africa.
Larus fuscus intermedius Schiøler, 1922
PROTONYM:
Larus fuscus intermedius
Schiøler, 1922. Dansk Ornithologisk Forenings Tidsskrift 16, p.21.
TYPE LOCALITY:
Norway and Denmark.
SOURCE:
Avibase, 2025
Definitions
- LARUS
- fuscus
- intermedea / intermedia / intermedianus / intermedium / intermedius
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, misspellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (graellsii) Larus fuscus graellsii Scientific name definitions
Distribution
Iceland, Faeroes, British Is, Netherlands, France and Iberia; winters from SW Europe to W Africa, and has increased dramatically on Atlantic coasts of America (1).
Larus fuscus graellsii Brehm, 1857
PROTONYM:
Larus Graellsii
Brehm, 1857. Allgemeine Deutsche Naturhistorische Zeitung. Im Auftrage der Gesellschaft Isis in Dresden. Neue Folge N.F., 3 Heft12, p.483.
TYPE LOCALITY:
Malaga, Spain.
SOURCE:
Avibase, 2025
Definitions
- LARUS
- fuscus
- graellsii
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, misspellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Heuglin's) Larus fuscus heuglini Scientific name definitions
Distribution
N Siberia from S Kola Peninsula E to Taymyr Peninsula; winters from Middle East S to E Africa and E to India, E China and S Korea.
Larus fuscus heuglini Bree, 1876
PROTONYM:
Larus Heuglini
Bree, 1876. A history of the birds of Europe, not observed in the British Isles 5, p.58 pl..
TYPE LOCALITY:
type from Zeyla, Somaliland.
SOURCE:
Avibase, 2025
Definitions
- LARUS
- fuscus
- heuglini / heuglinii
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, misspellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Steppe) Larus fuscus barabensis Scientific name definitions
Distribution
C Asian steppes; winters mostly in SW Asia.
Larus fuscus barabensis Johansen, 1960
PROTONYM:
Larus argentatus barabensis
Johansen, 1960. Journal für Ornithologie 101, no.3, p.325.
TYPE LOCALITY:
Barabasteppe in Westsibirien [=Baraba Steppe in Western Siberia, Russia]
SOURCE:
Avibase, 2025
Definitions
- LARUS
- fuscus
- barabensis
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, misspellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
- Year-round
- Migration
- Breeding
- Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Lesser Black-backed Gull
Map last updated 31 October 2025.
