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.

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.