Lovers of the birds: Ring-Billed Gull
The Ring-Billed Gull is the most abundant gull in N.A. It would be difficult to find a person who has never seen this bird. If you have visited a garbage dump, beach or hot dog stand they were there.
Size: medium sized, 17-21”/43-54cm or pigeon sized. Male slightly larger, smaller than a Herring Gull. ID: breeding adult: Diagnostic feature is dark band on its yellow bill. Head, neck and undersides are white. Mantle is pale, silvery-gray. Wings are black with white spots. Legs during breeding are yellowish/greenish, turning black during winters, while the legs of other gulls are flesh coloured. Feet are tridactyl/webbed. Eyes are pale with red eye-ring.
In Flight: Wings are white with dark ends and white tip, prominent view from both above and below. Clearly defined tail band. Found near airports where they endanger planes. Habitat: In breeding season they are found in freshwater, near lakes, rivers, fields, mudflats, beaches, golf courses and landfill sites. Ring-Necked Gulls are bold when in the presence of humans.
Status: uncommon to abundant breeder and very common migrant.
Feeding: Eats small fish, insects, bird eggs, worms in plowed fields, grain, small rodents. Scavenges in dumps. Dips and plunges food in water. Picks up food while walking. Voice: high-pitched kakakaka-akakaka, low-laughing yook-yook. Nesting: colonial, sometimes 85,000 pairs on a single island in L. Ontario, unlike Herring Gull having only a few pairs. Nest a shallow cup of grasses, sticks, twigs and pebbles laid on the ground in open areas. One brood of 1-5 eggs, creamy with dark spots. Predators: red fox, coyote, skunk, raccoons, weasel, milk, owls, crows and ravens. Winters: May be found year-round along the southern Great Lakes. Switches to mostly saltwater areas along the coast. Migrates south to Cuba. Conservation: population crashed due to hunting and habitat loss, but due to protection a spectacular comeback occurred in the 1990s. Estimated 3-4M today. Resources: Birds of Ontario, Stokes, Audubon, Golden, DK Birds of N.A. Wickipedia.
