The ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea) is a small gull, the only species in the genus Pagophila. It breeds in the high Arctic and has a circumpolar distribution through Greenland, northernmost North America, and Eurasia. This species is easy to identify. At approximately 43 centimetres (17 in), it has a different, more pigeon-like shape than the Larus gulls, but the adult has completely white plumage, lacking the grey back of other gulls. The thick bill is blue with a yellow tip, and the legs are black. The bill is tipped with red, and the eyes have a fleshy, bright red eye-ring in the breeding season. Its flight call cry is a harsh, tern-like keeeer. It has many other vocalizations, including a warbling 'fox-call' that indicates potential predators such as an Arctic fox, polar bear, Glaucous Gull or human near a nest, a 'long-call' given with wrists out, elongated neck and downward-pointed bill, given in elaborate display to other Ivories during breeding, and a plaintive begging call. given in courtship by females to males, accompanied by head-tossing. Young birds have a dusky face and variable amounts of black flecking in the wings and tail. The juveniles take two years to attain full adult plumage. There are no differences in appearance across the species’ geographic range. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)