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The Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a bird found in Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Türkiye and Greece. Coasts, harbours and cities around the Mediterranean and Europe. It eats fish, insects and other small invertebrates and small mammals and birds. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Yellow-legged gull lives

Coasts, harbours and cities around the Mediterranean and Europe.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐟 Fish40%
• 🐛 Insects & bugs30%
• 🐭 Mammals & birds20%
• 🦴 Leftovers (carrion)10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Yellow-legged gull

Recorded by Francesco Sottile (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1181929. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Yellow-legged gull

Where does the Yellow-legged gull live?

The Yellow-legged gull lives in Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Türkiye and Greece. Coasts, harbours and cities around the Mediterranean and Europe.

What does the Yellow-legged gull eat?

fish (about 40%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 30%), small mammals and birds (about 20%), dead animals (carrion) (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Yellow-legged gull endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Europe

• Lesser black-backed gull
• European green woodpecker
• Coal tit
• Common greenshank
• Eurasian curlew
• European stonechat

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.