Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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Adult

Immature

Color Photographs: © by and courtesy of John Cassady

Mew Gull (Larus canus)

Color Photograph: U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 18 to 20 inches.

Adult: Head white, sometimes with its upper half shaded with gray. Bill yellow with a conspicuous black ring near the apex. Back and wings primarily gray. However apex of the wing black with white patches and the inner margin of the wing white. Breast and underside white. Tail white.

Immature: Wings and back gray, but mottled with rusty-brown and with the rear margin of the basal half of the wing accented on both sides with white. Breast and sides white, heavily streaked with rusty brown. Tail white with a diffuse, dark band at its apex.

Similar Species:  Ring-billed Gull is most likely to be mistaken for the western Mew Gull (Larus canus) (photo at bottom left). The Mew Gull is a slightly smaller species and lacks the ringed bill in adults. In eastern North America the most similar species is the Herring Gull. The adult Herring Gull is a larger species (23 to 26 inches in length) and lacks a black ring around the bill. The color of the immature Herring Gull is brown, not gray, and lacks the rusty-red streaking of the Ring-billed Gull.

Breeding Range (see map below): The breeding range of the Ring-billed Gull is spotty and somewhat peculiar. It breeds in the northern Great Plains region of Canada and the northern United States and westward into the northwestern United States. This species also breeds around the Great Lakes and the southern coast of Labrador and Quebec.

Overwintering Range:  Overwintering individuals are found along the coastal regions of the United States and southern Canada. The species' overwintering range also includes the Mississippi Valley and extends southward into Mexico.

Habitat: The Ring-billed Gull is found on lakes and rivers during the breeding season and adds salt water habitats during the winter.

Food: Insects, small fish, and aquatic invertebrates. Also some carrion and human garbage.

Behavior: The Ring-billed Gull nests in large colonies. The voice is a loud, harsh cry.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 2 to 4 brown-spotted tan to olive green eggs. The eggs are laid in a ground depression lined with grass or other plant material.