Ring-billed Gull
Larus delawarensis
Fairly small gull, common and widespread throughout most of North America. Breeding adults are white-headed with a bold black ring around the bill; nonbreeding adults have smudgy brown markings on the head. Note pale eye and yellow legs. Immatures are mottled brownish overall; note pink bill with black tip. Found along lakes, rivers, ponds, and beaches. More common inland than most other gull species, and quite fond of parking lots and urban areas. Often in flocks. Most similar to Short-billed Gull, but larger and larger-billed. Immatures of the two species are especially difficult to differentiate, but Ring-billed is usually more coarsely mottled.
Identification
Measurements:<p>The head, neck and underparts are white; the relatively short bill is yellow with a dark ring; the back and wings are silver gray; and the legs are yellow. The eyes are yellow with red rims. This gull takes three years to reach its breeding plumage; its appearance changes with each fall moult. The average lifespan of an individual that reaches adulthood is 10.9 years The oldest ring-billed gull on record was observed in Cleveland in 2021, still alive at the age of 28 years.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Larus delawarensis
- Authority
- Ord, 1815
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Larus
Range and habitat
The ring-billed gulls' breeding habitat is near lakes, rivers, or the coast in Canada and the northern United States. They nest colonially on the ground, often on islands. This bird tends to be faithful to its nesting site, if not its mate, from year to year.<p>The ring-billed gull is a familiar sight in American and Canadian parking lots, where it can regularly be found congregating in large numbers. In some areas, it is displacing less aggressive birds such as the common tern.<p>They are migratory and most move south to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America, and the Great Lakes.<p>This gull is a regular wanderer to western Europe. In Ireland and Great Britain it is no longer classed as a rarity, with several birds regularly wintering in those countries.
- Breeding range
- NA : inland e British Columbia to s Northwest Territories, s James Bay to Labrador and Newfoundland (c, s Canada), Pacific Northwest states and Great Lakes (n contiguous USA)
- Non-breeding range
- to coastal and inland s US, s Mexico, Bahamas and Greater Antilles
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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