The
red-billed gull (
Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae scopulinus), also known as the tarāpung, is a member of the gull family,
Laridae.
Endemic to New Zealand, it is found throughout the country and on outlying islands including the
Chatham Islands and the
New Zealand Subantarctic Islands. Formerly considered a separate species, it is now usually treated as a
subspecies of the
silver gull. It regularly feeds on small fish, shell fish and worms, and sometimes berries, lizards and insects; it scavenges among urban waste in coastal towns. This red-billed gull was photographed in
Christchurch.
Photograph credit: Michal Klajban