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Bonaparte's Gull
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On the left with Black Headed Gull  |
| Bonaparte's Gull. |
| Species : Order: Family: Local names: |
Chroicocephalus philadelphia. Charadriiformes. Laridae. |
| Site
Of Nest: Food: Plumage: Breeding Period: Eggs: |
Open
areas, such as the treed edges of bogs, fens, marshes, ponds,
or islands. Breeds in boreal forest across
southern Alaska and much of interior western Canada, as
far east as central Quebec. During the breeding season, it is largely insectivorous. It also gathers in large numbers to feed on the eggs of spawning salmon The adult has grey upperparts and white underparts; its wingtips are black above and pale below. In breeding plumage, it has a slaty black hood, which it loses in non-breeding plumage. Its short, thin bill is black, and its legs are orangish-red. Notes on Gull identification The breeding season begins in mid-June. Courting pairs perform swooping display flights, calling loudly and diving at each other, and then drop down to perch on a branch. Crouched and facing each other, with neck and crown feathers erected and wings slightly raised, they scream at each other with bills opened wide, bobbing up and down as they do so. This display can continue for several minutes before ending abruptly; afterwards, the birds may sit quietly together for some time before separating again. 2-4. Pale to medium green, olive or buff, and may be variably marked with spots, blotches, or scrawls of brown, grey, violet, or black |
| Voice |