Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis

Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Larus

Description

The ring-billed gull is a medium-sized gull. It is about 16 inches in length and has a wingspan of about four feet. It has a short, bright yellow bill with a black ring at the tip. It has white head, neck, chest and belly feathers and a soft gray back and upperwings. It takes three years for the ring-billed gull to achieve adult plumage.

Range

In North America, the ring-billed gull breeds in the Northwest from the prairies of Canada south to California. It is also found in the Great Lakes region, the Canadian Maritimes, and northern New England. It winters from southern New England south to Cuba, from the Great Lakes south to the Gulf of Mexico, and from British Columbia south to Mexico.

Habitat

The ring-billed gull makes its home on lakes and rivers. It may move to the ocean in the winter.

Diet

The ring-billed gull eats insects, seeds, grain, fish and garbage. It is often called the "fast food gull" because it often hangs around fast food restaurants scavenging for food.

Life Cycle

The female ring-billed gull lays two to four eggs in a hollow in the ground. The nest is made with reeds and rushes. Both the male and the female incubate the eggs. The eggs hatch in about three and a half weeks. Both parents will feed the chicks regurgitated food. The chicks leave the nest a few days after they are born. They fledge in about a month.

Behavior

The ring-billed gull returns to its nesting site well before it is time to nest to establish its territory. It usually nests in colonies on islands in lakes with other gulls and terns. A nesting site may have as many as 1,000 pairs of ring-billed gulls.