The following lists include:

• printed documents used as source material for the data included in tables and figures
• previous publications including information on the status of gulls in the West Midlands region
• key publications relating to the status, taxonomy and identification of gulls
• useful website links relating to gulls
• acknowledgements

Principal Source documents:

Harrison  G.R., Dean  A.R., Richards  A.J. & Smallshire  D. 1982. The Birds of the West Midlands. West Midland Bird Club.

Harrison G.R & Harrison, J.V. 2005.  The New Birds of the West Midlands. West Midland Bird Club.

West Midland Bird Club. 1979 - 2020. West Midland Bird Reports 46 - 86. West Midland Bird Club.

Other publications relating to gulls in the West Midlands Region:

Dean, A.R. & Dean, B.R. 1976. Glaucous and Iceland Gulls in the West Midlands. British Birds 69: 179 - 180.

Dean, A.R. 1984. Origins and distribution of British Glaucous Gulls. British Birds 77: 165 - 166.

Dean, A.R. 1987. Seasonality of Herring Gulls in the West Midlands. British Birds 80: 632 - 633.

Dean, A.R. 1989. Status of Mediterranean Gull in the West Midlands Region. West Midland Bird Report 55: 34 - 39.

Dean, A.R. 2004. Status of Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis in the West Midlands region. West Midland Bird Report ( for 2002 )  69: 234 - 249.

Dean, A.R. 2011. The status of Caspian Gull in the West Midlands region. West Midland Bird Report (for 2009) 76: 244 - 249.

Dean, A.R. 2020. Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Olton Mere: seasonal and age distributions and correlations with a nearby breeding colony. West Midland Bird Report (for 2018) 85: 256 - 265.

Dean, A.R. 2021. Black-headed Gulls in winter: ageing, age-distribution and origins. West Midland Bird Report (for 2019) 86: 253 - 265.

Green, G.H. 1977. Wintering gulls in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, Progress Report 1. (printed for limited circulation).

Green, G.H. 1978. Wintering gulls in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, Progress Report 2. (printed for limited circulation).

Hume, R.A. 1976. Inland records of Kittiwakes. British Birds 69: 62 - 63.

Hume, R.A. 1978. Variations in Herring Gulls at a Midland roost. British Birds 71: 338 - 345.

Stewart, P. 1997. Wintering Gulls in Worcestershire. (printed for limited circulation).

Winsper, J.R. 2014. Roof-top nesting gull study: concerning the population of gulls that breed within the Birmingham boundary. West Midland Bird Report 78: 237 - 249.

Winsper, J.R. 2020. Observations on Lesser Black-backed Gull Movements. In: Winsper, J.R. & Emley, D. W. 2000. Ringing Report. West Midland Bird Report (for 2018) 85: 224 - 226.

Selected key texts on identification and taxonomy of gulls:

Garner, M., Quinn, D., & Glover, B. 1997. Identification of Yellow-legged Gulls in Britain. British Birds 90: 25 - 62, 369 - 383.

Gibbins, C., Small, B.J. & Sweeney J. 2010. Identification of Caspian Gull. Part 1. British Birds 103: 142-183.

Gibbins, C., Neubauer, G. & Small, B.J. 2011. Identification of Caspian Gull. Part 2. British Birds 104: 702-742.

Grant, P.J. 1986. Gulls:  a guide to identification. Second edition. London.

Jonsson, L. 1998. Yellow-legged Gulls and yellow-legged Herring Gulls in the Baltic. Alula 4: 74 - 100.

Jonsson, L. 1998a. Baltic Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus fuscus - moult, ageing and identification. Birding World 11: 295 - 317.

Koskinen, H & Rauste, V. 2006. Primary moult of Baltic Gull during the first 15 months. Dutch Birding 28: 158-161.

Neubauer, G., Faber, M. & Zagalska-Neubauer, M. 2010. Yellow-legged Gull in Poland : status and separation from yellow-legged Herring Gull and hybrids. Dutch Birding 32: 163 - 170.

Olsen K.M. & Larsson, H. 2003. Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America. London.

Yesou, P. 2002. Systematics of Larus argentatus - cachinnans - fuscus complex revisited. Dutch Birding 24: 271 - 298.

Other relevant texts and citations:

Baker, J. 1998. The Yellow-legged Gull in Oxfordshire. Birds of Oxfordshire 1997: 72-76.

Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downey, I.S. & Fuller, R.J. 2013. Bird Atlas 2007 - 11: the breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland. BTO Books, Thetford.

Barnes, J. A. G. 1961. The winter status of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1959 - 60. Bird Study 8: 127 - 147.

Bowes, C., Lack, P.C. & Fletcher, M.R. (1984) Wintering gulls in Britain, January 1983. Bird Study 31: 161-170.

Coulson, J. C. 2019. Gulls. New Naturalist Series, No. 139. Collins, London.

Coulson, J. C., Monaghan, P., Butterfield, J. E. L., Duncan, N., Ensor, K., Shedden, C., & Thomas, C. 1984. Scandinavian Herring Gulls wintering in Britain. Ornis Scand. 15: 79-88.

Cramp, S & Simmons, K.E.L. (eds.) 1983. The Birds of the Western Palearctic, vol. 3. Oxford.

Deacon, N. 2019. The Monitoring and Management of Gulls on Commercial and Industrial Buildings in the Vicinity of Norwich International Airport. Airfield Wildlife Management Ltd.

Helberg M., Systad G.H., Birkeland I., Lorentzen N.H. & Bustnes J.O. 2009. Migration patterns of adult and juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus from northern Norway. Ardea 97: 281–286.

Hickling, R.A.O. (1954) The wintering of gulls in Britain. Bird Study 1: 129-148.

Keys, R. 2002. The status and occurrences of Yellow-legged Gull and Caspian Gull in Derbyshire. Derbyshire Bird Report 2001: 133-134.

Litwiniak, K., Przymencki, M. & de Jong, A. 2021. Breeding range expansion of the Caspian Gull in Europe. Brit. Birds 114: 331 - 340.

Rock, P. 2002. Lesser Black-backed Gull. In: Wernham, C.V., Toms, M.P., Marchant, J.H., Clark, J.A., Siriwardena, G.M. & Baillie, S.R. (eds). 2002. The Migration Atlas: movements of the birds of Britain and Ireland. London

Rock, P. 2004. Roof-nesting Gulls in Worcester. Follow-up survey conducted in May 2004. Report to Worcester City Council.

Rock, P. 2020. Roof-nesting Gulls In Worcester. Survery conducted 28th April - 1st May 2020. Report to Worcester City Council.

Spelt, A., Williamson, C., Shamoun-Baranes, J., Shepard, E., Rock, P. and Windsor S. 2019. Habitat use of urban-nesting Lesser Black-backed Gulls during the breeding season. Science Reports 9: 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46890-6

Stanley, P. I, Brough, T., Fletcher, M. R., Horton, N., Rochard, J. B. A. 1981. The origins of Herring Gulls wintering inland in south-east England. Bird Study 28: 123-132.

Stanley, I. 2020. Yellow-legged Gulls in Dorset. Dorset Bird Report 2020.

Wernham, C.V., Toms, M.P., Marchant, J.H., Clark, J.A., Siriwardena, G.M. & Baillie, S.R. (eds). 2002. The Migration Atlas: movements of the birds of Britain and Ireland. London

Useful websites:

As well as being of great interest in its own right, Rudy's Gull-index also provides an index for linking to a variety of other gull-related websites.

Rudy's Gull-index (Rudy Offereins)

Martin Reid's website

Dick's Birds (Dick Newell)

Yellow-legged Gull Taxa/Azorean Gull/Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrids (Tim Marlow)

Acknowledgements:

Principal thanks go to all those gull-watchers in the West Midlands region who have generated the underlying data upon which this site is based. Many of these observers are members of the West Midland Bird Club and their observations have been incorporated into the club's Annual Reports, which have provided a principal source of raw data for analysis. Thanks go too to the compilers of these reports for their diligent work over many years.

Anyone interested in gulls (or any other species!) in the West Midlands Region should most certainly become a member of the West Midland Bird Club. See the club's website for further details.

Many thanks go to Roger Clay, Graham Evans, John Harris, Phil Jones, John Judge, John Mallinson, Steve Nuttall, Steve Seal, Peter Stewart and Andy Warr for permission to use their images of some scarcer gulls photographed in the region. Their photographs significantly enhance the breadth of interest of the 'Picture Gallery'.

For miscellaneous information, assistance, discussion and advice I am grateful to Dawn Balmer, Adrian Dally, Dave Emley, Graham Fellows, Martin Garner, Terry Hinett, Des Jennings, Lee Johnson, Andy Mabbett, Tim Marlow, Dick Newell, Ben Nolan, Steve Nuttall, Peter Rock, John Ridley, John Sirrett, Peter Stewart, Ian Ward, Jim Winsper and Ian Woodward.

Alan R. Dean