---
title: "Yellow-legged Gull"
description: "Larus michahellis — Uccelli. The yellow-legged gull or western yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/yellow-legged-gull
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Yellow-legged Gull

> Larus michahellis — Uccelli. The yellow-legged gull or western yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species.

- Scientific name: *Larus michahellis*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mare e costa), `urban` (Città e giardini)
- iNaturalist observations: 79903
- Wikidata: [Q704982](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q704982)
- iNaturalist taxon: [59202](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59202)

## Names

- en: Yellow-legged Gull
- de: Mittelmeermöwe
- es: Gaviota patiamarilla
- fr: Goéland leucophée
- nl: Geelpootmeeuw
- pt: Gaivota-de-patas-amarelas
- pl: Mewa romańska

## Countries with the most observations

IT (15335), ES (15210), FR (7412), PT (7092), GR (3667), TR (2955), HR (2278), CH (2002), UA (1405), DE (1281), DZ (1205), RU (884)

## Summary

The yellow-legged gull or western yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of either the Caspian gull L. cachinnans, or more broadly as a subspecies of the herring gull L. argentatus.
The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and the species name honours the German zoologist Karl Michahelles.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-legged_gull

## Photo

![Yellow-legged Gull](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/yellow-legged-gull/medium.jpg)

Photo: Ricardo Lima · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/132388527

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/yellow-legged-gull?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).