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Bird name:

Ring-billed Gull

Larus delawarensis

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)

Code 4

RBGU

Code 6

LARDEL

ITIS

176830

Breeding Location:

Seashore, rocky or sandy, Grassland with scattered trees



Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Colonial, Some polygamous



Breeding Population:

Abundant



Egg Color:

Olive to brown with lavender, gray and brown marks



Number of Eggs:

2 - 4



Incubation Days:

21 - 28



Egg Incubator:

Both sexes



Nest Material:

Made of weeds, debris, and grass.



Migration:

Migratory



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Attracting Clingers

General

Ring-billed Gull: Medium-sized gull with gray upperparts and white underparts. Head is white and bill is yellow with black ring near tip. Wings are gray above, tipped black with white spots, and white below. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has fine brown markings on head and nape. Juvenile has brown streaks on crown, nape, and upper breast, dark terminal band on brown-splattered white tail, and dark bill. 1st winter begins to show gray on back and upperwings and has a pink bill with black tip. 2nd winter resembles winter adult but retains black-tipped pink bill and black band on tail.

Range and Habitat

Ring-billed Gull: Breeds locally south to California, northern Great Plains, and southern prairie provinces of Canada, Great Lakes region, Canadian Maritimes, and northern New England. Spends winters on coasts, rivers, and lakes from southern New England south to Cuba, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, and from British Columbia to southern Mexico.

Breeding and Nesting

Ring-billed Gull: Two to four olive to brown eggs marked with lavender, gray and brown are laid in a hollow on the ground, sometimes lined with grass or debris; nests in colonies, often with other gulls or terns, usually on islands in lakes. Incubation ranges from 21 to 28 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Ring-billed Gull: Mostly scavenges, but also eats fish, rodents, small aquatic animals, bird chicks and eggs, and sometimes grasshoppers. Frequents landfills, garbage dumps, plowed fields, and parking lots; follows ships for refuse dumped overboard. Forages on the ground or snatches food from the water surface while in flight.

Vocalization

Ring-billed Gull: Call is a screeched "kree, kree" or a shrill "kyow-kyow-kyow."

Similar Species

Ring-billed Gull: Herring Gull is larger with thicker bill that lacks black ring. California Gull is larger and has a red spot near the tip of lower mandible.

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UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
CrownX
The crown is the top part of the birds head.
NapeX
Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.
Terminal bandX
Refers to the contrasting stripe at the tip of the tail.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX