Page 433 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

SKUAS, GULLS,AND TERNS
Family Laridae Species Larus atricilla Family Laridae Species Pagophila eburnea
Laughing Gull Ivory Gull
A long-winged, sharp-featured gull with a long black Almost pigeon-like with its dumpy form and short legs,
bill and black legs, the Laughing Gull is usually easy the Ivory Gull is longer and more tapered at the back
to identify. Summer adults have jet-black hoods with and longer-winged in flight.It has black legs,dark eyes,
thin white eyelids. In winter, the head has only dusky and a grey bill with a yellow tip. Juveniles are lightly
smudges.The back is a deep mid-grey.Young birds are spotted with black and smudged dark on the face.
browner on the wings with black along the hind edge, Albino Kittiwakes and Common Gulls (see pp.216,207)
have black tail bands, and are smoky grey across the may cause identification problems: the bill colours are
breast and along the flanks, looking very contrasty with then important.
their white rump and underside. OCCURRENCE Rare vagrant in W
OCCURRENCE Rare vagrant in W Europe, black Europe; breeds in Svalbard and high
from North America. bill Arctic islands.
VOICE Loud, squealing notes. VOICE Loud, shrill tern-like calls
but mostly silent in winter.
IMMATURE
(1ST WINTER)
white body with
dark spots
IMMATURE
(1ST WINTER)
long wings black legs

Length 36–41cm (14–16in) Wingspan 0.98–1.1m (3 1 ⁄4 –3 1 ⁄2ft) Length 41–47cm (16–18 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 1–1.13m (3 1 ⁄4 –3 3 ⁄4ft)

Family Laridae Species Rhodostethia rosea Family Sternidae Species Sterna maxima
Ross’s Gull Royal Tern
A rare Arctic species,Ross’s Gull is pigeon-like in form, This is a large, magnificent tern, almost the size of a
with rather broad-based but long wings and a wedge- Caspian Tern (see p.223) but more elegant.A very pale
shaped tail. Its very short bill is black, the short legs red bird, it has white underwings marked only by narrow
or pinkish. Summer adults are flushed bright pink and dark feather tips (Caspian Tern has a big black patch)
have a thin black collar; winter birds are duller and the and a white rump (the smaller Lesser Crested Tern is
black is reduced or replaced by smudges of grey.Young greyer). It is white-headed with a black nape, but has
birds have a Little Gull-like (see p.213) dark zigzag a black cap in summer; the bill is dagger-like, and rich
pattern but the hindwing is all white; they show a dark orange. Immatures have dark primaries and hindwing
ear-spot and a smoky grey hindneck. bars, like a young Common Gull (see p.207).
OCCURRENCE Rare vagrant, OCCURRENCE Very rare vagrant in NW Europe,from
thin black
mostly in winter, sometimes collar North America and/or Africa.
spring, from Arctic. VOICE Rather weak, strident, long orange
bill
VOICE Mostly silent. scratchy calls.
ADULT (SUMMER)
ADULT (WINTER)
no black on
wings

black legs

Length 29–32cm (11 1 ⁄2 –12 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 73–80cm (29–32in) Length 42–49cm (16 1 ⁄2 –19 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 86–92cm (34–36in)
431