RING-BILLED GULL

1385                    RING-BILLED GULL                      Larus delawarensis

USA                 41

The ring-billed gull is a medium-sized gull native to North America, breeding in Canada and the northern Contiguous United States, and wintering mainly in the United States and northern Mexico. The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific delawarensis refers to the Delaware River.

Ring-billed gulls forage in flight or pick up objects while swimming, walking or wading. They also steal food from other birds and frequently scavenge. They are omnivorous; their diet may include insects, fish, grain, eggs, earthworms and rodents. These birds are opportunistic and have adapted well to taking food when discarded or even left unattended by people. It is regarded as a pest by many beach-goers because of its willingness to steal unguarded food on crowded beaches. The birds congregate at beaches, marinas, docks and parks where people will hand feed them.

LAUGHING GULL

 803*                   LAUGHING GULL                     Leucophaeus atricilla

USA                  40

The laughing gull is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named for its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America.

BLACK-BILLED GULL

Photographed at Miranda, June 2017

1201                BLACK-BILLED GULL               Larus bulleri

NEW ZEALAND                50

Locally common endemic to New Zealand. 37 cm. Breeds on riverbeds and lake margins of South Island. Feeds inland in wet paddocks, ploughed fields and over lakes, also coastal waters, beaches and estuaries.

Photographed at Napier, New Zealand, June 2017

BLACK-BACKED GULL

(*   282)            BLACK-BACKED GULL             Larus dominicanus

NEW ZEALAND               37

Ranges widely, feeds at rubbish tips, farmland, ploughed fields, beaches, harbours and behind boats, but rarely far out to sea. 60 cm. Breeds in circumpolar subantarctic; in New Zealand region, breeds on mainland coast, offshore and most outlying islands; also breeds far inland on riverbeds, near lakes and alpine tarns.

RED-BILLED GULL

Photographed at Ambury, New Zealand, June 2017

 (* 110)          RED-BILLED GULL            Larus novaehollandiae 

NEW ZEALAND                   3

Known in Australia as Silver Gull. 37 cm. Breeds subantartica from Africa to Chathams; in NZ region, on coast from the Three Kings to Campbell Islands, inland colony at Rotorua; common in coastal waters, beaches and estuaries, only occasionally in flocks inland in wet paddocks, sports fields and lakes.

LAUGHING GULL

In non-breeding plumage, photographed at Venus Bay, South Australia, August 2016

803      LAUGHING GULL         Lares atricilla

Australia         (647)

Found on coasts, tidal flats. 36-40 cm.; span 1.05 cm. Breeds coastal e. N. America, and California: migrates to ne. Brazil and down Pacific coast to n. Chile. Vagrant to Hawaii, Samoa, elsewhere in Oceania. Sighted in Cairns, and in 2016 Venus Bay (SA). Vagrant.

EUROPEAN HERRING GULL

443           EUROPEAN HERRING GULL          Larus argentatus

Britain          (14)

66 cm. One of best known gulls all along shores of western Europe; breeds n,w e and central Europe, Scandinavia and Baltic; some winter further south, some stay in British Isles, Iceland and North Sea. Abundant around inland rubbish dumps.

Herring Gull, juvenile

BLACK-HEADED GULL

Black-headed Gull in winter plumage.

442             BLACK-HEADED GULL          Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Britain          (13)

Breeds in much of Europe and Asia, also coastal eastern Canada, some birds also winter in ne North America, where it was formerly known as Common Black-headed Gull. 38-44 cm, 94-105 cm. The eggs of the Black-headed Gull are considered a delicacy in the UK and are eaten hard boiled. Cheer in Watershed Downs was a Black-headed Gull. In the 1990s a Black-headed Gull was sighted in Broome, Australia by Brian Kane

GREY-HEADED GULL

358           GREY-HEADED GULL            Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus

South Africa             (51)

Also known as the Grey-hooded Gull. Breeds in South America and Africa south of the Sahara. Breeds large colonies in roadbeds and marshes. Found in coastal or estuarine areas, but rarely at sea. 42 cm.

PACIFIC GULL

Photographed in Tasmania

283                PACIFIC GULL            Larus pacificus
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Australia        (253)

Also known as Mollymawk. Rnges along s. coast of Australia from Sydney s. to Port Hedland (WA).

KELP GULL

282           KELP GULL           Larus dominicanus

Australia       (252)

Also known as Dominican Gull and Southern Black-backed Gull.  55-60 cm, 1.28 -1.4 m. Occurs in patches around coast of s and se mainland and Tasmania, small breeding colonies Moon Is., Five Is, and Sydney-Port Kembla region(NSW), Seal Rock (Vic)s. WA w. to Esperence Larger colonies on islands s. of Hobart, Also seen Townsville and Jurien Bay(WA).

SILVER GULL

110       SILVER GULL        Larus novaehollandiae

Australia        (110)

Familiar seagull found all over Australia. Also found in NZ, New Caledonia, some sub-Antartic islands and S. Africa. Found near waters on coast and lakes, in urban areas, parks and around rubbish tips.