Gould commented that 'The Glaucous and the Iceland Gull are in all particulars so much alike, except in size, that one description would serve for both. What the Lesser Black-backed Gull is to the Greater, such is the present bird to the Glaucous...The white-winged Gulls are the Arctic representative of the more southerly Black-backed Gulls...In winter... the white-winged birds beat a retreat to the shores of the British Island'.

The illustration shows an adult in summer plumage about two-thirds lifesize (foreground) and a young bird behind.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds northern Nearctic. Winters south to north Europe, northeast North America, and Great Lakes. Scarce visitor to Britain, chiefly in winter