Bird name:

Bonaparte's Gull

Larus philadelphia

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)

Code 4

BOGU

Code 6

LARPHI

ITIS

176839

Breeding Location:

Lakes, Marshes, Rivers

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester, Small colonies

Breeding Population:

Stable and common

Egg Color:

Olive to buff with brown blotches

Number of Eggs:

2 - 4

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Sticks and twigs., Lined with grasses and moss.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Bonaparte's Gull: Medium gull with black head and bill, gray back, and white underparts and tail. White outer primaries with black trailing edges are visible in flight. Legs are red-orange. Sexes are similar. Winter adult lacks black hood but has dark spot behind eye; legs are pink. Juvenile is resembles winter adult but has brown-washed back, nape and crown, and black-tipped tail.

Range and Habitat

Bonaparte's Gull: Breeds across northern North America from western Alaska to Hudson Bay. Spends winters along Atlantic and Pacific coasts and Gulf of Mexico. Preferred habitats include large lakes, rivers, and marshlands.

Breeding and Nesting

Bonaparte's Gull: Two to four brown blotched, olive to buff eggs are laid in a nest made of sticks and twigs, lined with grass and moss, and built near or over water; typically builds nest in a tree rather than on the ground. Both parents incubate eggs for 24 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Bonaparte's Gull: Feeds mostly on insects picked from the water surface or rotting vegetation along shorelines during breeding season. Diet shifts to small fish, crustaceans, marine worms, and other invertebrates in winter. Forages by picking food from the water surface while swimming or flying with dangling feet; also makes shallow plunge dives.

Vocalization

Bonaparte's Gull: Utters shrieking whistles and a call of "cheer."

Similar Species

Bonaparte's Gull: Black-headed Gull has pale bill and dark primary undersides.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

Outer primaries

The outer primaries are the primary feathers on the wing farthest from the body. They often appear to be the longest feathers on the wing.

Primaries

The primaries are the flight feathers specialized for flight. They are attached to the "hand" equivalent part of the wing.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

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.

Field Guide to Birds of North America