Lesser black-backed gull

Short abstract from the book:
In the Faroes, lesser black-backed gull is a migratory breeding bird with an estimated 9,000 breeding pairs. 4,056 lesser blackbacked gulls have been ringed in the Faroes, with most ringed in Mikladalur, Kalsoy (838) and Nólsoy (742). The species was the first to be ringed in the Faroes: 45 were ringed with German Rositten rings under the supervision of Dr. Dampf in 1912. Most lesser blackbacked gulls were ringed in 1989 (195). Birds have been ringed from 25 March to 4 October, with the majority in July (2,884). 81% were ringed as chicks. With 297 recoveries, 6.9% have been recovered. The first recovery was 29th September 1912 near Meneto, Portugal. 136 recoveries are from abroad. The autumn migration begins in early August. The migration route goes to Britian, France and the Iberian Peninsula. Winter recoveries are from Portugal (15), Spain (9) and Morocco (9). During the breeding season, most recoveries are from the Faroes. The Faroese population may be supplemented by birds from SW Iceland and Britain: Eight foreign–ringed adult birds have been recovered during the breeding season. Lesser black-backed gulls from Iceland and Britian use Faroese waters as foraging grounds during the breeding season. The main cause of recovery is shooting (45%). The longest-living bird was ringed 7 July 1989 on Nólsoy and seen there again on 3 August 2009, 23 years and one month later.

Read more about the species in the chapter from The Faroese Bird Migration Atlas here