Some American gulls

With Laughing Gull and Ring-billed Gull making an appearance over here, I have assembled some photos and video-stills taken in Florida and Canada, in the hope that they may be of interest and use. It is less likely that an American Herring Gull will turn up locally, but I have included this species too. The only other gull species that ever showed on Tampa Bay, where I took most of these pictures, was the occasional adult-winter Bonaparte’s Gull, none of which came into camera range. Unless otherwise stated, the pictures were taken on dates between mid-January and the first week of March in various years.

Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla

Winter adult

The most notable feature is the elongated shape, and a dark grey mantle. The head is smudgy grey in winter, Note the black legs, black eye and drooping black bill that all add to the impression of a dark bird. In flight the long wings are dark grey below, with black secondaries and wing-tips that give the bird a predominantly dark-winged appearance.

Seen close to, this individual shows a blood-red flush to the black legs. The bill is starting to develop a hint of the deep red of its summer livery.

In the mist of a February dawn, this winter adult was exercising the call that gives its name. Always with an eye on the main chance, and hoping that I might be an angler, they would come to check me out as I sat to watch the dawn flight of egrets and ibis. They were often one of the first birds on the move, always on the lookout for a Brown Pelican or a Double-crested Cormorant to rob. They are particularly adept at stealing from immature birds as they juggle their catches, even sometimes sitting on a pelican’s head. I even saw one harass an Osprey as it fed, perched on a stranded lobster cage. In that case the Osprey won fairly easily.

The first-winter Laughing Gull is a truly scruffy-looking bird, with a very diffuse grey and brown plumage. Note the white “eyelids” - a feature of the summer adult below.

Fig 5 shows a small flock of adult Laughing Gulls, taken at Fort de Soto in February. One is already showing a smoky-grey head (the black intensifies as full condition is reached), but the bill colour hasn’t yet changed to summer red. Note the relative size of the single Ring-billed Gull with them: the Laughing Gull is roughly comparable to a Black-headed Gull, but is longer-winged. The Ring-billed Gull is between our Common Gull and Herring Gull in size.

One of our visits was in April, when most of the gull looked quite different. It is hard to make the connection between the first-winter bird above and this handsome adult in breeding plumage. The sooty-black full hood, white “eyelids”, and pristine white parts make this a quite different-looking bird. Even so, the red on the bill was not yet fully developed. Note also the dark-grey mantle and long, black-tipped wings, with minimal white on the primary tips. Set off against the white sand of a beach on the Gulf of Mexico, this is a very smart gull.

Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis

Adult winter

This larger gull shows the streaky head typical of white-headed species in winter. The yellow-green bill has the distinctive black ring. The legs are of similar pale yellow-green. The mantle is paler than that of the Laughing Gull. There is virtually no white to separate the grey mantle from the black of the rear end, a feature that distinguishes it readily from a Common Gull when it appears over here.

This head-shot shows clearly the black orbital ring and yellow-green eye. It is also clear that the bill-tip is distinctly more yellow than the base of the bill.

I was unable to record one of these birds overhead, but they always seemed particularly white underneath, with strongly-contrasting black wing-tips.

This bird was in late first-winter plumage, with a relatively un-streaked head and a warm-grey, unmarked mantle. There are a number of brown-tipped coverts still present. The bill has a completely dark tip and the eye is dark.

In summer plumage (fig 10) the adult Ring-billed Gull has clean white parts, a much more positive yellow on the bill, and the legs are yellow-green. The orbital ring is now reddish.

This individual was photographed in Montreal, Canada in June 2004.

American Herring Gull, Larus smithsonianus

These birds were photographed on Tampa Bay in February. The first winter bird (fig 11) is typically very dark.

The second winter bird (fig 12) is paler, but still darker than a Herring Gull of the same age

There is distinct solidity about the species, and especially about the deep bill and bulky body. They immediately seem bigger than our own Herring Gull. Taken in Halifax, Nova Scotia in June 2004, fig 13 shows a summer adult that seemed truly formidable at close quarters.

When I saw American Herring Gulls and Great-black Backed Gulls off-shore in Canada, the size difference was markedly less obvious than between our own Herring Gulls and the largest gull species. Larus smithsonianus is certainly a bigger bird on average than Larus argentatus.

Ray Reedman - 9th January 2006