Bonaparte's Gull - Larus philadelphia

Bonaparte's Gulls have been foraging at the Las Gallinas ponds for several weeks. On November 16th we saw 3 first winter birds picking items form the surface of pond #3, flying and feeding much like a tern. The young birds are rather attractive, with some brown feathers that form a distinctive wing stripe or "bar" in flight. Other features shown in these distant cropped shots are white eye arcs, a black smudge behind the eye, a slender black bill and a wide sub-terminal black band on the tail. Sibley notes that Bonaparte's typically does not mix with other gull species.

Bonaparte's is one of 5 tern-like "Masked Gulls", but the only one seen here. The most similar gulls you might rarely see here are Laughing Gull and Franklin's Gull, both described as "Hooded Gulls". Detailed accounts of these birds can be found in Howell & Dunn's Gulls of the Americas.

A few years back we had some spectacular views of many Bonaparte's Gulls foraging in the crashing surf at Drake's Beach (PRNS), in the company of many Red-necked Phalaropes. It was a most unusual and exciting feeding frenzy. Note the dark carpal bar and black tail band, again marking them as First Winter birds.