A yellow-legged gull that was tagged in Portugal in 2019 as a chick was recently recorded in Israel, marking the longest journey ever documented for this bird species. The individual that reached Israel nearly doubled the previously known longest recorded route of yellow-legged gulls.
In February 2025, the yellow-legged gull - with a ring from Portugal - was spotted at the Shdot Yam Reservoir in Emek Hefer by Amit Franco, a ranger from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), and Amir Ben Dov, an INPA volunteer.
After consulting with colleagues worldwide, the two researchers confirmed that this was the longest-recorded journey of a yellow-legged gull, covering over 4,000 km from Portugal to Israel. This was the first time such a journey had been documented.
Record-holding bird
One of the researchers, Amar Ayyash from the United States, noted that the previous world record for a yellow-legged gull stood at only 1,840 km.
Seabird researcher Nuno Miguel Oliveira ringed the gull on July 26, 2019, when it was a chick, on Berlenga Island in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Portugal's coast.
The research team stated: "We have several reports of yellow-legged gulls that we tagged in Berlenga being recorded in Morocco. The longest recorded journey southward was to Mauritania, while the longest recorded northward journey was to southern Ireland and southern England. The individual that reached Israel nearly doubled the longest known route of yellow-legged gulls ever documented in the world."