Ring-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull, adult, breeding plumage

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Ring-billed Gull, adult, non-breeding plumage

Ring-billed Gull, 2nd winter

Ring-billed Gull, 2nd winter

Ring-billed Gull, 1st winter

Ring-billed Gull, juvenile

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A familiar parking lot gull, the Ring-billed Gull breeds primarily inland in North America. It can be found along the coasts, but many of these "seagulls" never see anything except fresh water all their lives.

Description

• Medium-sized gull.
• Yellow bill with black ring near the tip.
• Head and underparts white.
• Back light gray.
• Wingtips black with white spots.
• Legs yellow.

• Size: 43-54 cm (17-21 in)
• Wingspan: 105-117 cm (41-46 in)
• Weight: 300-700 g (10.59-24.71 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, male slightly larger than female.

Sound

Call a shrill "oooww." Also series of short "a-a-a-a-a-a"s.

Conservation Status

Hunting for the millinery trade nearly extirpated it from parts of range in 1800s. Now common and widespread, and is expanding its breeding range.

Other Names

Goéland à bec cerclé (French)
Apipizca pinta (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• Young Ring-billed Gulls tested at only two days of age showed a preference for magnetic bearings that would take them in the appropriate direction for their fall migration.
• Many, if not most, Ring-billed Gulls return to breed at the colony where they hatched. Once they have bred, they are likely to return to the same breeding spot each year, often nesting within a few meters of the last year's nest site. Many individuals return to the same wintering sites each winter too.

• Although it is considered a typical large white-headed gull, the Ring-billed Gull has been known to hybridize only with smaller, black-headed species, such as Franklin's, Black-headed, and Laughing gulls.

Sources used to construct this page:

Ryder, J. P. 1992. Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). In The Birds of North America, No. 33 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.