---
title: "Mewa popielata"
description: "Larus smithsonianus — Ptaki. The American herring gull (Larus smithsonianus or Larus argentatus smithsonianus), also known as the Arctic herring gull or Smithsonian gull, is a large gull that breeds in North America, where it is treated by the American Ornithological Society as distinct from the European herring gull (Larus argentatus)."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/american-herring-gull
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Mewa popielata

> Larus smithsonianus — Ptaki. The American herring gull (Larus smithsonianus or Larus argentatus smithsonianus), also known as the Arctic herring gull or Smithsonian gull,  is a large gull that breeds in North America, where it is treated by the American Ornithological Society as distinct from the European herring gull (Larus argentatus).

- Scientific name: *Larus smithsonianus*
- Category: `birds` (Ptaki)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Jeziora i rzeki), `sea` (Morze i wybrzeże), `urban` (Miasta i ogrody)
- iNaturalist observations: 99194
- Wikidata: [Q469297](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q469297)
- iNaturalist taxon: [1578489](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1578489)

## Names

- en: American Herring Gull
- de: Amerikanische Silbermöwe
- es: Gaviota Plateada Americana
- fr: Goéland hudsonien
- nl: Amerikaanse zilvermeeuw
- pt: Gaivota-prateada-americana
- pl: Mewa popielata

## Countries with the most observations

US (55250), CA (25521), MX (639), BS (21), CU (15), HN (15), CR (14), PM (14), PA (13), PT (13), BM (12), PR (10)

## Summary

The American herring gull (Larus smithsonianus or Larus argentatus smithsonianus), also known as the Arctic herring gull or Smithsonian gull,  is a large gull that breeds in North America, where it is treated by the American Ornithological Society as distinct from the European herring gull (Larus argentatus).
Adults are white with gray back and wings, black wingtips with white spots, and pink legs. Immature birds are gray-brown and are darker and more uniform than European herring gulls, with a darker tail.  As is common with other gulls, they are colloquially referred to simply as seagulls.  
It occurs in a variety…

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

## Photo

![Mewa popielata](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/american-herring-gull/medium.jpg)

Photo: Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reago · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/106762856

## Machine access

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