Scientific name: Larus dominicanus
The adult kelp gull has black upperparts and wings. The head, underparts, tail, and the small "mirrors" at the wing tips are white. The bill is yellow with a red spot, and the legs are greenish-yellow (brighter and yellower when breeding, duller and greener when not breeding). The call is a strident ki-och. Juveniles have dull legs, a black bill, a dark band in the tail, and an overall grey-brown plumage densely edged whitish, but they rapidly get a pale base to the bill and largely white head and underparts. They take three or four years to reach maturity.
In southern Africa it is common along the coast of Namibia and South Africa while scarce in Mozambique, occupying a variety of marine and coastal habitats (including areas disturbed my humans).
Opportunistic forager and scavenger, with individuals differing in their diet preference, although it is usually consists of mainly invertebrates, especially mussels.
