Black-headed gull

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Black-headed gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus (summer).jpg
Adult summer plumage.
File:Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus) (W1CDR0001402 BD19).ogg
Colony sounds, Suffolk, England
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Order:
Charadriiformes
Family:
Laridae
Genus:
Chroicocephalus
Species:
C. ridibundus
Binomial name
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
(Linnaeus, 1766)
File:Black-Headed Gull.png
Global range     Year-Round Range     Summer Range     Winter Range
Synonyms

Larus ridibundus

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The black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) is a small gull that breeds in much of Europe and Asia, and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but some birds reside in the milder westernmost areas of Europe. Some black-headed gulls also spend the winter in northeastern North America, where it was formerly known as the common black-headed gull. As is the case with many gulls, it was previously placed in the genus Larus.

Description

This gull is 38–44 cm (15–17½ in) long with a 94–105 cm (37–41 in) wingspan. In flight, the white leading edge to the wing is a good field mark. The summer adult has a chocolate-brown head (not black, although does look black from a distance), pale grey body, black tips to the primary wing feathers, and red bill and legs. The hood is lost in winter, leaving just 2 dark spots. It breeds in colonies in large reedbeds or marshes, or on islands in lakes, nesting on the ground. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.

The black-headed gull is a bold and opportunistic feeder. It eats insects, fish, seeds, worms, scraps, and carrion in towns, or invertebrates in ploughed fields with equal relish. It is a noisy species, especially in colonies, with a familiar "kree-ar" call. Its scientific name means laughing gull.

This species takes two years to reach maturity. First-year birds have a black terminal tail band, more dark areas in the wings, and, in summer, a less fully developed dark hood. Like most gulls, black-headed gulls are long-lived birds, with a maximum age of at least 32.9 years recorded in the wild, in addition to an anecdote now believed of dubious authenticity regarding a 63-year-old bird.[2]

In popular culture

Uses

File:Larus ridibundus MWNH 0380.JPG
Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden, Germany

The eggs of the black-headed gull are considered a delicacy by some in the UK and are eaten hard boiled.[3][4]

Australian discovery

In the 1990s, local Broome birder Brian Kane saw a strange species of bird while trawling the local sewer ponds. Upon seeing this bird, he called one of his many bird-watcher friends to verify the species, who confirmed that it was indeed a black-headed gull. This was the first recorded sighting of the species in Australia.[5]

Gallery

  • Black-headed Gull 2 - St James's Park, London - Nov 2006.jpg

    Adult winter plumage in St James's Park, London

  • Chroicocephalus ridibundus - closeup of head.jpg

    Adult breeding plumage

  • Larus ridibundus.jpg

    Adult summer plumage, North Devon coast, England

  • Immature black headed gull.jpg

    Juvenile plumage

  • Kokmeeuw Larus ridibundus Jos Zwarts 3.jpg

    Adult with juvenile

  • Adult summer plumage, Oslo, Norway

  • Black Headed Gull.JPG

    Adult summer plumage, Pangong Tso

  • Black headed gull.jpg

    In flight

  • Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) juvenile.jpg

    Juvenile at Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire

  • Black-headed gull in flight.jpg

    At Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire

  • Black-headed gull in flight 2.jpg

    At Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire

  • Qağayı Bakı.jpg

    In Baku, Azerbaijan

  • Black-headed gull first winter.jpg

    First winter plumage, at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

  • Black-headed Gull from the Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland.jpg

    ID composite

  • Black-Headed Gull in flight 140810 1.jpg

    in flight near Großenbrode, Schleswig-Holstein. The bird is in a near-vertical position.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Conservation (Natural Habitats&c
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Harrison P. Seabirds of the World. Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ), 1987 ISBN 0-691-01551-1
  • Dunn JL, Alderfer J. National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America National Geographic Society 2006 ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
  • Pons J.M., Hassanin, A., and Crochet P.A.(2005). Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution 37(3):686–699

External links

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