Identifying Ages of Gulls for Beginners

It's easy! All gulls start out brown and gradually end up white and black, or gray. Brown gulls are juveniles, white and black or gray ones are adults.

Gulls can be divided into three groups: large gulls, medium gulls, and small gulls

Hint: It may be helpful to look at color of beak and legs for more accurate identification.

Here are some examples of medium and large gulls:

Ring-billed Gull

Juvenile	Subadult	Adult
Light dirty head, neck and belly with lots of brown streaks or mottling. Mottled on back and wings. Beak is flesh/pink colored with dark gray on the end. Its legs are flesh/pink colored. Eyes (iris) are rusty brown. Dark band on tip of tail.	Light head and belly; some gray spots on neck and belly. Beak is cream-colored with a blackish band near tip. Its legs are olive/yellow.  Its eyes (iris) are cream to pale yellow. Some dark on tail.	All white on head, neck, and belly (although it will sometimes have dirty spots on  back of head). Light gray back and wings. Beak is bright yellow with obvious black ring near the tip. Its legs are olive/yellow. Its eyes (iris) are yellow and the skin around the eye is reddish/orange. White tail.

 

Herring Gull

Juvenile	Subadult	Adult
Brown streaks on head, neck and belly. Brown and gray on wings. Its beak is dark at tip to pale at base. Pinkish white legs. Its eyes (iris) are pale brown. Tail is all dark.	Dirty white head and belly, some dusky-gray streaks on neck; gray back and wings.  Its beak is olive/gray with dark band near tip (no red spot). It has pinkish legs. Its eyes (iris) are yellow. Dark tip on tail.	All white on head, neck, and belly (with dusky streaks in winter). Gray back and wings. Its beak is yellow (red spot near end of beak is not always seen). Pinkish legs. Its eyes (iris) are yellow. Tail white.

 

Winter and summer plumage Birds replace their feathers or "molt". It is necessary because feathers become damaged and worn. In winter adult gulls tend to look less "clean" than they do in summer. Their 'dirty' appearance can be confusing when you are looking at different ages of gulls.  If you know the species of gull, sometimes looking at the colors of the beak and legs can be helpful. Follow your instincts! Just focus on the overall look of the bird. .Do your best!