Page 215 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

SKUAS, GULLS,AND TERNS
Order Charadriiformes Family Laridae Species Larus minutus
Little Gull pale streaks on

outer wings
blackish zigzag
no black paler underwings
on top on upperwings dark than adult
blackish underwings
with white rim ear-spot
IMMATURE
ADULT (1ST WINTER) brown on neck and
(WINTER) back becomes grey
in winter
IMMATURE
(2ND SUMMER)
IN FLIGHT pale head, with dark bill
dark markings black head
increasing in spring and bill
pale wingtips pearly grey
pale grey back back

black on
underwings red legs
may be
visible
ADULT
ADULT (SUMMER)
(WINTER)
hort-legged, small-billed, delicate and elegant, this gull is
Sreminiscent of the marsh terns, feeding like a Black Tern over FLIGHT: light, buoyant, erratic; shallow, quick flicks
open water. It tends to appear over lakes and reservoirs in small of wings, frequent turns.
groups in spring and autumn, also like the terns,
but immatures may linger for weeks in the PALE UPPERWINGS
Adults have no trace of black on
summer. It combines the typical “hooded” gull the upperside of the wings.
sequence of plumages with a strongly contrasted
immature pattern rather like that of the Kittiwake.
In most of Europe, it is much less abundant than
other gulls, with which it often associates.
VOICE Low, rapid tern-like calls, kek-kek-kek,
akar akar akar.
NESTING Grassy nest on ground or in dense
marsh vegetation; 3 eggs; 1 brood; May–June.
FEEDING Mostly picks up insects, aquatic
invertebrates, and fish from surface of water in
dipping flight. OCCURRENCE
Mostly breeds in E Europe, on wet
SIMILAR SPECIES grassy marshes and floods; at
other times, on coastal lagoons
brown hood MEDITERRANEAN GULL thick KITTIWAKE immature, similar (around coasts and over reservoirs
white underwings; bill to immature; see p.216
larger see p.208 on migration). Winters west to
greyer thin black Ireland and frequent migrant
back collar
on W. European coasts, but
mostly scarce and somewhat
BLACK-HEADED GULL erratic inland.
white triangle on
outer wings; Seen in the UK
see p.206 larger J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 25–27cm (10–10 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 70–77cm (28–30in) Weight 90–150g (3 1 ⁄4 –5oz)
Social Small flocks Lifespan 5–10 years Status Declining
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