First pure pairs of yellow-legged gull Larus [cachinnans] michahellis along the North Sea coasts

Since 1985, newly created land in the outer harbour of Zeebrugge (51°21’N, 3°11’E), Belgium, supports fast growing populations of gulls, terns and plovers (Seys et al. 1998; Stienen et al. in press). In 2002, 2100 pairs of Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus, 3400 pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gull L. graellsii, 950 pairs of Herring Gull L. argentatus, 2450 pairs of Common Tern Sterna hirundo and smaller numbers of Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula, Kentish Plover C. alexandrinus, Mediterranean Gull L. melanocephalus, Common Gull L. canus, Sandwich Tern S. sandvicensis and Little Tern S. albifrons were found breeding here. In the same year, the first two pure pairs of Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis settled in the outer harbour of Zeebrugge.