Gulls can be Challenging           Gull Gallery
   
   Mature Ring- billed Gulls

Bonaparte's Gull-Winter

  
Heermann's Gull-Winter


Western Gull

 
  Ring-billed Gull-Winter
Gulls go through several stages of development.  Some larger gulls have as many as eight different plumage stages.  Gull nuances can be mind boggling.  Identification of immature gulls is not for the faint of heart.  Fortunately, most gulls are not flighty which allows plenty of time for identification.

Mature gulls are easier to identify than the immature.  Look at size, color, leg color, bill color.  Does it have a ring or a spot on its bill?  If a gull is helping you eat your lunch, it is probably a Western or a Ring-billed gull.   (In above photo mature Western Gull is not headless, it is preening its feathers.)

Gulls frequent beaches and lakes. Being scavengers they are also found at dumps, fast food restaurants, and on school grounds.

                (Always take binocs when you go to a fast food restaurant.)

Gulls are a lot like teenagers: 1) They hang out a lot.  2) Don't work for a living.  3) Will eat anything. 4) Can be quite entertaining.

 

 

 

 

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