Bonaparte's Gull - Larus philadelphia

Gulls can be difficult to identify, with many exhibiting similar patterns: gray above, white below and black wingtips. The small Bonaparte's Gull is a exception, easily standing out from the other local gulls. It flies and feeds more like a tern, diving suddenly to deftly pluck prey from the surface of the water, then resuming its back and forth flight about 20 feet above the water. Not easy to take a photo like this with a scope!

The black ear patch is present on both juvenile and adult birds, but not seen on other local gull species. The black tail band and striking dark carpal bars on the wings are hallmarks of a first winter bird. Note also the black trailing edge on the wing, another feature of a young bird.The dainty tern-like black bill and white eye ring complete the picture. A very pretty gull indeed!

Photos were taken this past week at Las Gallinas, where 2 juveniles birds have been foraging. As usual they were taken through a spotting scope, which takes a bit of luck, as the birds forage so actively and its hard to track them at 25X magnification. Here one of them rests briefly on the water.