Note the soft and pleasant look of this juvenile short-billed gull, its unmarked yellow bill and greenish-yellow legs.

Last week I focused on identifying three of our most common adult gulls. Included was the glaucous-winged, western, and ring-billed gull. The focus for today will be on three more of the gulls we see on our beaches.

Every ride or walk on the beach is different. One day it can be mainly shorebirds and on another it can be raptors such as the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, or turkey vulture. On other days it can mainly gulls. At least a few gulls are generally always on the beach, especially at the beach approaches such as the Ocean Park approach.

The California gull is a common western gull that winters in relatively large flocks along the Pacific coast. At the end of August and early September I was beginning to see California gulls in larger numbers on the beach than I recall from other years. We see them at other times of the year but not necessarily in large numbers. It is also an inland gull and one that you might see in a fast-food joint’s parking lot where it often joins the ring-billed gulls who are also seeking the crumbs of food that humans discard or drop. Remember gulls will eat just about anything! Foraging California’s “range widely from coastal and interior valleys to urban centres, seacoasts, and offshore waters,” (Audubon, 2021).

There are a few very good, identification markers. Size-wise, the California gull is a little larger than a crow and the ring-billed gull. Its eye is dark with a reddish eye ring and its legs are greenish. Breeding adults have a red spot on the bill that is overlapped with black. Winter and immature birds have a black bar just short of the tip of the bill. Juveniles don’t have a red eye ring.

The short-billed gull is another one of our fascinating and interesting gulls. It is the only gull, in my experience that doesn’t seem to have a fierce look about it. It is a small gull with a fine bill. Most of the larger gulls have thicker, larger, and longer bills by comparison.

The short-billed gull was dubbed the Mew Gull until 2021 when it was split from the common gull of Eurasia and officially renamed. Thus, as David Sibley, (2021) confirms, the north American population, which is common along the Pacific coast is now known as the short-billed gull. It is the Eurasian species that is called the common gull. Other scientists have pointed out that if you keep track of the birds you see, i.e., a life list, all you do is change the name of the mew gull to the short-billed gull. Thus, the name change doesn’t change the number of species you have seen.

Heermann’s gull is with us in the late summer, fall and winter. The pattern for some is to migrate from the west coast of Baja California from July to October to the Pacific coast where it winters north to Vancouver Island, (Audubon, 2021). Some Heermann’s will also go south to winter in Panama, (Audubon, 2021). Like the California gull, I seem to be seeing more Heermann’s gulls than I remember seeing in recent years. This might be a species to look for during the winter months to see to what extent it winters along our ocean beaches.

Heermann’s gull is primarily a dark gull with a red bill and black legs. The breeding adult has a gray body and a snow-white head that blends into its grayish neck. Juveniles range from dark brown to a more darkish sooty brown. Other species of dark juvenile gulls appear mottled. The Heermann’s is not mottled. It is about 18 inches, so it is around the same size as a ring-billed gull. One interesting fact about the Heermann’s is that they tend to follow brown pelicans from which they steal fish when they surface with their pouch full of fish.

This is another small glimpse into three of the other gull species. Once again, I have incorporated the latest information. The newest publication by the National Audubon Society, “Birds of North America,” was published in 2021. It is the main source for the newest information. It provides updated range maps, scientific information on such things as habitat, behavior, nesting, and conservation status. As you know, it is possible to be updated more quickly now because of the efforts of citizen scientists who participate in various bird counts or keep records on what they see and report their sightings to eBird. There are still a few other species I think we should know about.

Until then, happy birding.