Little gull
Larus minutus
Identification Tips:
- Small, tern-like gull
- Short, thin, black bill
- Short, rounded wings
Adult alternate:
- Black head extending onto upper neck
- White nape, neck, breast, belly, and tail
- Pale gray back and upperwings
- White trailing edge to primaries and secondaries
- Dark gray underwings
- Red legs
Adult basic:
- Like adult alternate except lacks black hood and instead has black spot
on ear coverts and smudgy gray cap
First year:
- Head and body like adult basic
- White tail with black terminal band
- Pale gray upperwing marked by dark carpal bar and dark outer primaries
- Pale trailing edge to wing
- Pink legs
- Second-year birds are similar to birds in adult basic plumage but have
some dark visible in the primary tips and underwings are not as dark
Similar species:
Unlike other small gulls, adult Little Gulls have no black on the uppersurface
of the wings and have wholly dark underwings. At rest, note that the black
hood extends farther down the nape than the other species and the short wings
make the bird appear stubby. First-year Little Gulls are easily distinguished
from other small gulls by the pale trailing edge to the wing, but also have
wider, bolder carpal bars. Adult Bonaparte's and Black-headed Gulls are
superficially similar but have white wedges on the uppersurface of the wing
and dark primary tips (visible in flight and at rest). Laughing and Franklin's
Gulls both have much darker gray backs, never show similar wing patterns and
have much thicker, more robust bills.