The Armenian Gull

The Armenian gull (Larus armenicus) is a large gull found in Armenian highland, the Caucasus and the Middle East. It was classified as a subspecies of the European herring gull, but it is now considered to be a separate species. This species is registered in the Armenian Red book.

Armenian gulls are similar to yellow-legged gulls but are a little bit smaller with a slightly darker grey back and dark eyes. The area of black on the wingtips is more extensive with smaller white spots. The beak is short. They nest beside mountain lakes in Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, and western Iran, and the largest colonies are at Lake Sevan and Lake Arpi in Armenia.

The “Gull Island”

“Gull Island” is located in the Norashen Reserve of the Sevan National Park. The Reserve was established to protect the breeding ground of Armenian Gulls. The colony of Armenian Gulls nests here, making up a significant proportion of the entire species population in Asia Minor. The colony is one of the largest in the world. Norashen Reserve is situated near the Norashen village, on the left side of the road leading from Sevan to Gavar.

Due to the decrease in the water level of Lake Sevan, in late 1990 the island was connected to the mainland and turned into a peninsula. Thus, the animals could enter the island and endanger the existence of the colony of Armenian Gulls. Fortunately, people managed to artificially separate the island and save the colony. In addition to gulls, other species of birds nest in this island, such as Ruddy shelduck, Mallard, Gadwall, Eurasian hoopoe and Northern wheatear.

As the water reduction of Sevan continued, the vegetation along the shoreline began to disappear, and the breeding grounds for the majority of wetland birds were lost for many years. Only in 2000 the water level started to increase again, and as a result, shallow wetland areas began to appear on the shores of the lake. Roosting and foraging sites were restored. All this began to attract many waterbirds and wetland-dependent species during breeding, migration and wintering periods.

Norashen Reserve is firstly known for “Gull Island”. However, here you can find many other bird species. Among them are Great сormorant, Little and Great-crested grebes. A variety of shorebirds such as Green sandpiper and Little ringed plover can be seen foraging along the shorelines of the lake.

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