Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 7() 1962
Nesting of Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus L.
Abstract:
The objective of the study presented in this paper was to investigate the nesting of the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus L., especially the adaptive abilities of this bird as regards both the choice of nesting colony site and the situation and building of particular nests. The further purpose of the study was to find out the common features of the nests built under various conditions, the features that might be assumed as characteristic of this species of birds. The Black-headed Gull is a species widely distributed over the Palaearctic region, and as results from recent observations it has been extending its range northwards. It seems that this expansion is not stimulated by climatic changes but caused by a considerable, general, biologic dynamics of this species. One of the sources of this dynamics and tendency towards expansion may be a marked adaptive ability of the Black-headed Gull so far as nesting is concerned.
