Audouin’s Gull, Larus audouinii, (named after the French naturalist, Jean Victoire Audouin).
Length... 44-52cm (17-20 inches) Wingspan 1-17-1.28m (45-51 inches)
A rare Gull, once very rare as they were down to only 1000 breeding pairs in the 1960’s. Today they have established new breeding colonies, now up to around 10,000 pairs so they still remain rare. This species of gull unlike other large gulls, rarely scavenges and is a specialist fish eater; so mainly coastal and the pelagic zone. They will also feed on small birds, small mammals and plant material.
Occurrence… Breeds in Eastern Spain, Balearics, Morocco and the Mediterranean Islands. Rare in the Atlantic.
Between late April and early May the female lays two to three eggs, incubating them for three weeks. The chicks fledge in mid-July and soon fly south
Audouin’s gull spends the winter on the coast of north and west Africa.
Voice… low, nasal calls.
Audouin’s gull status
Audouin’s gull is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List and is listed on Appendices I and II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention).
It is also listed on Appendix II of the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats Annex I of the EU Birds Directive and Annex 2 of the African-Eurasian Migratory Water Bird Agreement It is classified as endangered on the Greek Red Book of Threatened Vertebrates.

The Audouin's gull is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Water birds (AEWA) Also applies.
In the images below…. This adult Audouin’s gull visited the clot in Gran Alacant, just for a few minutes before it took off again. Fortunately stayed long enough for me to capture several images of this very majestic gull, cooling itself on the water’s surface in a playful manner.
Note… The water’s surface had a large amount of algae floating on the surface.