Natural
History
Notes
on the Birds
Charadriformes II
Gulls, Terns, Skuas and Jaegers, and
Alcids
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About the
categories
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Name
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Common name
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Food
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The main food category.
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Feeding Techniques
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How it acquires its food.
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Habitat
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What kind of area does the bird
live?
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Plumage
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Is there similarity between the male
and the female, between winter and spring, young and adult,
or are there variations in the plumage amongst the species.
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Distribution
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Approximately where it is found in the
United States.
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Breeding
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Unique aspects on how the species
breeds.
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About the Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Special notes on the status or natural
history of this bird.
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Notes from A. C.
Bent
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Selections from the Life Histories of
North American Birds, edited by
A. C. Bent.
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Name
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Food
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Ominivorous scavenger
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Feeding
Techniques
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Opportunistic; uses its large beak to
eat what it wants
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Habitat
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Pacifc coast; rarely goes
inland
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
Four years to acquire adult
plumage
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Distribution
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Pacific states coastline
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Breeding
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Often a colonial breeder
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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egger - person who collects eggs to be
used for food
sagacity - wisdom
J. H. Bowles was co-author with
Leon
Dawson on the Birds of
Washington.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Food: Before the encroachments of
civilization gave the western gull an easy way of earning
its living as a scavenger,
its principal food supply was gleaned from the sea; it
followed the schools of small fish in flocks, hovering,
screaming, and struggling for its prey in strenuous
competition. When its appetite was satisfied a game of tag
sometimes ensued, such as Mr. J. H. Bowles (1909) described
as follows:
One catches a herring, and instead of
eating it flies with the fish hanging from its bill, past
three or four comrades. These accept the challenge and rush
madly after, while the pursued goes through all sorts of
evolutions in seeking to elude them. If overtaken, the order
of chase is reversed, and the game goes merrily on until all
are tired. The fish, or tag trophy, is not eaten but is
dropped upon the playground in a condition decidedly the
worse for wear.
Although fish still form a large part
of its food, especially about its breeding grounds, it is
primarily a scavenger, like the other large gulls, and has
learned to frequent harbors and populated shores, where it
can easily gorge itself on the garbage dumping grounds, pick
up unsavory morsels at the outlets of sewers, and feed on
whatever refuse it can find scattered along the beaches. It
also follows vessels to pick up whatever scraps of food are
thrown overboard. It feeds at low tide on the sand flats,
mud banks, river shores, and mussel beds, where it finds
dead fish, clams, seaworms, dead rats, or any kind of fresh
animal food or carrion. It understands how to break the
shells of a clam or a sea urchin by flying up into the air
with it and dropping it on hard ground or on a rock,
sometimes making several attempts before
succeeding.
Mr. Walter E. Bryant (1888) says of
its feeding habits:
The gulls are indiscriminate feeders;
in addition to their usual articles of diet, they subsist
largely upon eggs during the summer. They do not eat the
eggs of their own species, nor do they trouble the
cormorants after the murres
have commenced laying. Sea-urchins, crabs, young murres, and
rabbits, and fish stolen from the cormorants' nests are
eaten. Not being quick enough to swoop upon the rabbits they
catch them by patient watching at their burrows, and will
patiently try for 15 minutes to swallow a squealing young
rabbit, and finally fly away with the hind feet protruding.
The dead bodies of murres are also eaten; they detach pieces
of flesh by backing away and dragging the body, meanwhile
shaking their heads, till a piece breaks off.
Perhaps the most important food supply
of the western gull on its breeding grounds consists of the
eggs of other birds, near which it almost always nests. The
sagacity displayed by the gulls in taking advantage of the
human egg hunters is well described by Dr. A. L. Hermann
(1859) as follows:
At 1 o'clock every
day, during the egg season, Sundays and Thursdays excepted
(this is to give the birds some little respite), the egg
hunters meet on the south side of the island. The roll is
called to see that all are present, that each one may have
an equal chance in gathering the spoil. The signal is given,
every man starting off at a full run for the most productive
egging grounds. The gulls understanding, apparently, what is
about to occur, are on the alert, hovering overhead and
awaiting only the advance of the party. The men rush eagerly
into the rookeries; the affrighted murres have scarcely
risen from their nests before the gull, with remarkable
instinct, not to say almost reason, flying but a few paces
ahead of the hunter, alights on the ground, tapping such
eggs as the short time will allow before the egger comes up
with him. The broken eggs are passed by the men, who remove
only those which are sound. The gull then returning to the
field of its exploits, procures a plentiful supply of its
favorite food.
I have repeatedly seen this gull drink
salt water, and I believe that all ocean gulls do so though
I have heard it stated that they prefer fresh water. They do
not, however, like their food too salty as the following
instance, related by Mr. A. W. Anthony (1906) will
illustrate:
I was one day watching some western
gulls, a few yards from me on a wharf, when a large piece of
salted fish was thrown out from an adjacent boathouse. It
fairly glistened with a thick incrustation of salt, and I
was somewhat curious to see if the gulls would eat food so
highly seasoned. No sooner had it fallen than it was seized
upon by a gull and as quickly swallowed; but from the
surprised actions of the bird it was evidently not to his
liking; no sooner had it reached the stomach than it was
ordered out again. Dropping the fish on the wharf the bird
eyed it for a moment, turning its head from side to side,
and, to judge from its soliloquy, made a number of
uncomplimentary remarks on the depraved tastes of mankind
that would spoil good fish in that manner. Then picking up
the fish it flew down to the water, and holding it under the
surface shook its head from side to side violently
"sozzeling" the meat about for several seconds. It was then
taken back to the wharf, laid down and inspected, and
carefully sampled; this time, however, it was not bolted as
at first, but held for a moment in the mouth and again
rejected, and carried back to the water, where it was even
more roughly laundered. This operation was repeated several
times; and the piece of fish, which must have weighted 4
ounces at the outset, was reduced to half that size before
it reached a state of freshness that suited the palate of
the gull.
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Name
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Food
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Omnivorous
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages while walking
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Habitat
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Variety of habitats from sea coast to
inland agricultural fields.
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
Generally takes three years to
obtain adult plumage.
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Distribution
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Throughout the western United
States.
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Breeding
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Breeds in colonies. Nest is scrape in
the ground.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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It has always seemed to me that the
above name should have been applied to the western
gull, Larus
occidentalis, the characteristic gull of the California
coast, for the subject of this sketch, Larus
californicus, is essentially a bird of the inland
plains. It is common enough on the California coast in
winter, together with several other species, but it is not
known to breed within that State except in the elevated
regions east of the Sierras in the northern part of the
State. Although we are accustomed to associate gulls with
the seashore this species seems to be confined, during the
breeding season, to the interior, where it is widely
distributed and in many places abundant, particularly in the
vicinity of the larger lakes, from northern Utah to the
barren grounds on the Arctic coast. The exact limits of its
distribution are none too well known, for the casual
observer might easily mistake it for the
herring gull, which it
closely resembles. The ranges of the two species come
together at the eastern edge of the Great Plains, and
undoubtedly many mistaken identifications have been made
where specimens have not been collected. Such was the case
at Crane Lake, Saskatchewan, where the herring gull had been
reported as breeding abundantly, but where all of the large
gulls that we collected during two seasons' work proved to
be California gulls, which were very common.
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Name
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Food
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An opportunistic scavenger.
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Feeding
Techniques
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Aggressive scavenger that feeds
generally along water areas.
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Habitat
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Coastal areas, but especially in areas
where humans are found
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
, takes four years to achieve
adult plumage.
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Distribution
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Found only along the Pacific coast,
generally from Northern California northward.
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Breeding
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Colonial breeder; both sexes raise
young
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Food: These, like other large gulls,
are useful scavengers all along the coast and are
practically omnivorous.
They were constantly following our ship in search of small
scraps that might be picked up, and, while we were at anchor
at Ketchikan and Unalaska, they were especially numerous and
always in sight, eagerly waiting for the garbage to be
thrown overboard. They are abundant, in winter, in the
harbors of nearly all the large cities on the Pacific coast
as far south as southern California, where they feed largely
on refuse and seem to fill the place occupied by the
herring
gull on the Atlantic coast.
They are particularly numerous about the garbage heaps which
are dumped on the shore to be washed away by the advancing
tides. In such places they appear to realize that they are
protected and are very tame. In their eagerness to secure
the choice morsels of food they seem to forget all about the
presence of human beings, even within a few feet. At other
times it is difficult for a man to walk up within gunshot
distance of them. They become much excited and clamorous in
their scramble for food, competing at close quarters with
other species of gulls, with dogs, and with the lazy
indians. They are none too particular in their choice of
food and will eat almost anything that is edible.
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Name
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Food
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An opportunistic scavenger.
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Feeding
Techniques
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Aggressive scavenger that feeds
generally along water areas.
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Habitat
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Water environments
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
takes four years to achieve
adult plumage.
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Distribution
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Throughout the United States. One of
our most abundant birds.
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Breeding
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Colonial breeder; both sexes raise
young
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Behavior: The flight of the herring
gull varies greatly under different circumstances. At times,
especially in calm weather, the birds flap along slowly with
broad, slow wing beats like those of herons or cormorants.
In this manner they may fly close to the water or high in
the air, and they are usually massed in loose flocks.
Occasionally, however, their flight is in a long line, one
behind the other, or in broad lines abreast, and rarely they
may be seen in the typical V formation of ducks. In rising,
a flock often ascends nearly vertically in a great circle
all together, or in many intersecting circles.
The play of light and shade, of sun
and shadow, alternately make the birds appear dark and
light. Many hours are spent by the gulls in this graceful
and beautiful sport of soaring in circles - a sport which
apparently requires but little effort, as, under favorable
conditions, few wing beats are necessary. The descent may be
made in the same manner as the ascent by circling, but at
times the birds drop swiftly down by tipping or rocking from
side to side.
In windy weather the flight of the
herring gull is far from slow and heron-like. Then it is
extremely graceful, as the bird alternately sails with great
rapidity before the wind or beats up into it.
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Name
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Food
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Largely insectivorous. (See in Notes
from A. C. Bent)
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages while walking, and
flying
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Habitat
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Varied habitats as long as there is
water.
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
adult birds have non-breeding
and breeding plumages; takes three years to become an
adult.
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Distribution
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Throughout the United
States
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Breeding
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Breeds in northern Canada. Breeding
behavior not well undersood.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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The link below for Coleopa
frigida goes to a site which discusses using the maggot
of this fly in trout fishing. The modern scientific name is
Coelopa frigida .
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Food: Like its larger relative, the
Franklin's
gull, the Bonaparte's gull is
largely insectivorous.
Over the marshy ponds of the interior flocks of these pretty
birds are frequently seen beating back and forth, adroitly
catching insects on the wing, and their stomachs are often
packed full of such food. Many insects are gleaned from the
surface of still pools or picked up from the drift rows of
decaying vegetation along the shores. Mr. Arthur H. Norton
(1909) says that in Maine it "has been found feeding over
rafts of drifting seaweeds, when its diet was found to
consist of maggots, probably Coleopa
frigida a fly that breeds
at high-water mark in decaying seaweeds (Algae and
Zostera)." Nuttall
(1834) examined two that "were gorged with ants and their
eggs, and some larvae of moths in their pupa state." On the
seacoast they live on small fish, shrimps, and other
surface-swimming crustaceans, marine worms, and other small
aquatic animals. Apparently very little, if any, vegetable
food is taken.
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Name
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Food
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Omnivorous
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages while walking
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Habitat
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Primarily coastal
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
adult birds have non-breeding
and breeding plumages; takes three years to become an
adult.
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Distribution
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Pacific Coast
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Breeding
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Breeds in small colonies in Canada,
Alaska. Nest may be on the ground,on roof of building, or
even on water.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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sea mews - another name for Mew Gull
assiduously - with great care and
detail
offal - waste products
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Macgillivray (1852) says:
The fields having been cleared of
their produce and partially plowed, to prepare them for
another crop, the "sea mews," deserting the coasts, appear
in large flocks, which find subsistence in picking up the
worms and larvae that have been exposed. These flocks may be
met with here and there at long intervals in all the
agricultural districts, not only in the neighborhood of the
sea, but in the parts most remote from it. Although they are
most numerous in stormy weather, it is not the tempest alone
that induces them to advance inland; for in the finest days
of winter and spring they attend upon the plow, or search
the grass fields as assiduously as at any other
time.
This gull also picks up floating offal
from the surface of the water, and catches small fish, such
as sand eels and young herring. From the beaches and rocks
on the shore it picks up crustacea, mollusks, echinoderms,
etc. In general habits it closely resembles the
ring-billed
gull. Its flight is light and
buoyant and it dips down to the water gracefully, rarely if
ever plunging below the surface. Its cry is shrill and
somewhat harsh.
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Name
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Food
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Scavenger - Omnivorous
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages while walking
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Habitat
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Habitats with water including parks
and urban areas
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
Three years to acquire adult
plumage
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Distribution
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Throughout the US
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Breeding
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Breeds in colonies sometimes with
California
or Herring
Gulls.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Behavior: The flight of the
ring-billed gull is not markedly different from that of the
other larger gulls; it is light and graceful as well as
strong and long sustained. It can poise stationary in the
air when facing a good breeze without moving its wings
except to adjust them to the changing air currents, and can
even sail along against the wind in the same manner. It is
often so poised while looking for food on the water, but if
the wind conditions are not favorable it is obliged to
hover. When food is discovered it either plunges straight
downward or floats down more slowly in a spiral curve, and
picks up its food without wetting its plumage. When
alighting on the water its wings are held high above it as
it drops lightly down with dangling feet. It swims
gracefully and buoyantly, sitting lightly on the surface. It
rises neatly from the water. It has no very distinctive
field marks and closely resembles several other species; but
it is somewhat smaller than the California
gull and very much smaller
than the herring
gull; it also has a lighter
gray mantle and less white in its black wing tips. The black
ring in its bill is not always in evidence and can not be
seen at any distance. Its notes are similar to those of
other closely related gulls, but they are on a higher key
than those of the two larger species referred to above. When
alarmed or when its breeding grounds are invaded it utters a
shrill, piercing note of protest - kree, kreeee - like the
cry of a hawk, but when its excitement has somewhat subsided
this note is softened and modified and the subdued kow, kow
kow notes are often heard from a flock of gulls floating
overhead. It is often noisy while feeding, while a cloud of
hovering gulls show their excitement by a chorus of loud
squealing notes and shrill screams. While pursuing its
ordinary vocations it is usually silent, except for an
occasional soft, mellow kowk.
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Name
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Food
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Primarily fish - but will also
scavenge.
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages while walking
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Habitat
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Coastal waters
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
; three years to adult
plumage.
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Distribution
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Primarily Pacific Coast
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Breeding
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Breeds on islands in the Gulf of
Mexico
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Heermann's Gull was named after
A.
L. Heerman, early American
naturalist.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Nesting: The nest in all cases was
simply a well-formed depression in the ground with no lining
whatsoever. There must have been over 15,000 Heermanns gulls
nesting on this island.
Mr. Pingree I. Osburn (1909) found a
colony of Heermann's gulls breeding "on a remote rock off
the coast of the State of Jalisco, Mexico, in about the
parallel 180 N." He writes:
The rock was about 25 feet high and 50
by 150 feet across, with a plat of coarse bunch grass a foot
high in the center, and along the edge a barren strip of
white rock, broken up here and there with crevices and
bowlders. The rock contained 31 pairs of breeding birds,
ascertained after a careful count. The birds in the nesting
grounds behaved in much the same manner as the
western
gulls, but were tamer,
swooping down within a foot of my head and alighting nearby
while I was photographing in the colony.
A cursory survey of the rock showed
that it was steep on all sides. The birds undoubtedly
preferred the level ground for a nesting place, as only one
set was found on this cliff. The nests were located usually
between boulders or nestled down in the bunch grass in the
center of the rock. Those in the grass were usually well
made of sticks, dry grass, and weeds, and sometimes with a
slight lining of feathers. They were much better made and
more compact than those of the western gull. Several nests
in my collection still show their original shape and
construction; also retain the strong odor peculiar to these
birds on their nesting grounds. A few sets were found with
almost no nest; simply a cup-shaped cavity scantily lined
with shells and a stick or two. The nests were well
scattered about over the rock, no close grouping being
evident. The measurements of the nests average, in inches -
outside width, 10; depth, 2 1/2. No other species of gull
was seen in company with the Heermann gulls, and none within
hundreds of miles of these islands.
The first visit to the rock was on
April 11. At this time about one-third of the eggs were
heavily incubated. The remainder were in all the lesser
stages. The sets contain two and three eggs in about equal
numbers, with a possible majority of three.
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Name
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Food
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Scavenger
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages while walking - Uses sharp
beak to grab what it wants
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Habitat
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Coastal areas especially around
people
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
Takes four years to acquire
adult plumage
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Distribution
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Atlantic coast
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Breeding
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Breeds in colonies, sometimes with
Herring
Gulls. Nest is on ground.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Food: The great black-backed gull is a
voracious feeder, omnivorous,
and not at all fastidious. On or about its breeding grounds
it feeds largely on the eggs of other birds, particularly
sea birds, when it can find them unprotected, or upon the
small young of such birds as are unable to defend them. Mr.
M. A. Frazar (1887) describes its method of capturing young
eiders
as follows: Two or three gulls
will hover over a brood in the water, which, of course,
confuses the mother duck and scatters the brood in all
directions. Then, by following the ducklings after each
dive, they would soon tire them out, and a skillfully
directed blow at the bare of the skull, which seldom missed
its aim, would in an instant finish the business, and,
before the unhappy duck would know which way to turn, its
brood would be one less. On several occasions I have seen
the mother duck drawn several feet in the air by clinging to
the gull us it dove for its prey, and several times I have
seen a venturesome "black-back" get knocked over with a
charge of shot when he happened to get too interested in his
pursuit and allow of my too close approach.
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Name
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Food
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Varied; fish and also a
scavenger
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages while walking
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Habitat
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Ocean coast
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Eastern coast from Maine to
Texas
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Breeding
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Colonial breeder
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Young: The period of incubation
is about 20 days. The young when first hatched are carefully
brooded by their parents, who stand over them to protect
them in wet weather or to shield them from the rays of the
hot sun. They are fed at first on half-digested soft food,
which they take from the open bill of the old bird, but
later on are weaned and taught to feed on solid food. They
remain in the nest for a few days, but soon learn to run
about and hide in the grass or under herbage. For the next
month or six weeks they lead an inactive life during the
period of growth-feeding, resting and sleeping most of the
time. They are fed by their parents until they are able to
fly and for some little time thereafter. The flight stage is
reached, on Muskeget, during the last week of July or the
first week of August, at which time the adults, still in
full nuptial plumage, may be seen hovering over the little
grassy meadows, where young birds of various sizes may be
found hidden in the long thick grass, so well concealed that
one must be careful not to walk on them. Here they remain
motionless until disturbed, often until touched, when they
run nimbly or fly away. Comparatively few young birds may be
seen exercising in the open sandy spaces or on the beaches,
running about on their long legs almost as fast as a man can
run, or learning to make short flights from the high
spots.
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Name
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Food
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Fish
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages off the surface of the
water
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Habitat
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Open ocean
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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More common in Pacific
ocean
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Breeding
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Nests close to Arctic circle in small
colonies.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Behavior: On the wing this species
bears a closer resemblance to a tern than it does to the
other gulls. It flies with continuous wing beats, seldom, so
far as I have observed, sailing, and its flight is direct
though not straight. It may swoop to the earth to pick up a
bit of food or hover a moment if something attracts its
attention, but only for an instant does it delay before
resuming its onward flight in the direction it was going. It
seems almost devoid of curiosity. I have never had one fly
about me when walking over the tundra, as the short-billed
gulls and Arctic terns frequently do, and unless I am
directly in its path I have never seen one torn aside in its
flight to look at me. If one of their own species or another
bird is shot they pay no attention to the fallen comrade,
even if it be only wounded. They attend strictly to their
own business. They usually fly singly or with one or more
short-billed gulls, but sometimes two are seen together,
rarely three. Except on their breeding grounds they are not
social and are generally silent. At St. Michael I have seen
as many as six birds together on the bay, but on land they
are usually solitary. When a number do come together on the
water it appears to be the presence of food that attracts
them rather than a desire for the society of their own or
other species. When a half dozen birds are resting on the
water it is usual to see them scattered about, each 80 or
100 yards from his nearest neighbor and not close together,
as other gulls generally are.
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Name
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Food
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Fish and other marine
animals
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages along the coast
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Habitat
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Varies. Salton Sea, along the coast,
inland agricultural fields
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Gulf of California
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Breeding
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Young fed by both parents
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
No Bent Available
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Name
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Food
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Primarily insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Forages while walking on the
ground
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Habitat
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Inland - agricultural
fields
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
; adult birds have
non-breeding and breeding plumages; takes three years to
become an adult.
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Distribution
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Found inland - rarely at the
coasts
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Breeding
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Breeds in colonies, inland, where it
builds a nest in a marsh.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Spring: In late April or early May,
when the rich black soil has thawed to the surface, the
settler of the northwest prairies goes forth to plow. The
warm season is short and his tillage vast, so he delays not
for wind or storm. One day he is dark as a coal heaver, when
the strong winds which sweep almost ceaselessly over the
prairie hurl upon him avalanches of black dust. Next day,
perchance, in a driving storm of wet snow, he turns black
furrows in the interminable white expanse, his shaggy fur
coat buttoned close around him. Then comes a day of warm
sunshine, when, as he plows, he is followed by a troop of
handsome birds which some might mistake for white doves.
Without sign of fear they alight in the furrow close behind
him, and, with graceful carriage, hurry about to pick up the
worms and grubs which the plow has just unearthed. Often
have I watched the plowman and his snowy retinue, and it
appeals to me as one of the prettiest sights which the wide
prairies can afford. No wonder that the lonely settler likes
the dainty, familiar bird, and in friendly spirit calls it
his "prairie pigeon" or "prairie dove.":
The above quotation, from Mr. H. K.
Job (1910), furnishes a vivid picture of this useful prairie
bird and its arrival in the spring, which occurs at about
the time that the last of the ice goes out of the lakes. The
beautiful Franklin's gull, or Franklin's rosy gull, as it
was first called, is both useful and ornamental throughout
the whole summer, and is justly popular in consequence.
Although it was described by Swainson and Richardson in
Fauna Boreali-Americana, it seems to have been almost wholly
unknown by the earlier writers on American birds, and was
for many years considered a rare bird. It was not until the
great western plains began to be settled and cultivated that
we began to realize the astonishing abundance of this
species and its importance to the agriculturist.
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Name
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Food
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Feeds off of dead animals especially
mammals. See below.
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Feeding
Techniques
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Habitat
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Ocean
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Arctic Circle
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Breeding
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Food: The feeding habits of the ivory
gull are hardly becoming a bird of such pure and spotless
plumage. It is a greedy and voracious feeder and is none too
particular about the quality of its food or how it obtains
it. When some of these birds have been feeding on the
carcass of a whale they present a sorry spectacle, for in
their eagerness to satisfy their gluttonous appetite they
crowd themselves into the entrails of the animal and their
beautiful white plumage becomes smeared with blood. They are
particularly fond of the blubber and flesh of whales,
walruses, and seals, even when somewhat putrid, and, when
busily engaged in such a feast they are tame and
unsuspicious. Nothing in the way of animal food comes amiss
to them and they even frequent the holes in the ice used by
seals for the purpose of feeding on the excrement of these
animals. Pieces of meat, blood, or offal from slain animals
scattered on the ice or snow will always attract them. Any
refuse thrown from the galley of a ship is readily picked
up. Mr. Kumlien (1879) says that he once saw one try to
swallow the wing of an eider, which the cook threw
overboard. They also feed to a large extent on lemmings and
other small rodents. On their breeding grounds, in the
Polynia Islands, Captain McClintock (1856) found the
bleached bones of lemmings scattered about their nests,
"also fresh pellets, consisting of their bones and
hair."
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Name
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Food
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Fish
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Feeding
Techniques
|
Forages while flying - drops down to
the surface of the water to obtain prey
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Habitat
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Coastal waters
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage
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Distribution
|
Pacific coast and northeast Atlantic
coast
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Breeding
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Colonial breeder
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Nesting: The kittiwake is decidedly an
oceanic gull, being seldom seen inland, except as a wanderer
on migrations, and breeding on the rocky cliffs and crags of
our Arctic coasts exposed to all the fury of ocean storms in
which it seems to delight. On the Greenland coast most of
the large breeding colonies are on the high cliffs near the
heads of deep fjords, but farther south the preference seems
to be for lofty rocky islands.
My first intimate study of the nesting
habits of the Atlantic kittiwake was made on the famous Bird
Rocks, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in 1904, one of the
southernmost outposts of its breeding range. We landed here
in a small boat, late in the evening of June 23, under
rather exciting circumstances. As the great cliffs towered
above us in the moonlight we saw a lantern coming down the
ladder to show us where to land and we ran in among the
breakers. There was a crash which brought us to our feet as
we struck an unseen rock; but the next wave carried us over
it and landed us among the rocks and flying spray. We were
overboard in an instant, struggling in the surf up to our
waists, for the boat was rapidly filling, as wave after wave
broke over us. A few moments of rapid work served to unload
our baggage and attach a stout line to the boat, the signal
was passed aloft and the powerful steam winch above landed
her high and dry. After exchanging hearty greetings with our
genial host, Captain Bourque, we enjoyed the novel
experience of being hoisted up in a crate to the top of the
cliff, over 100 feet high. It was certainly a new and
interesting sensation to feel ourselves slowly rising in the
darkness up the face of these somber cliffs, with the surf
thundering on the rocks below us and with a cloud of
screaming seabirds hovering about us, barely discernible in
the moonlight, like a swarm of ghostly bats whose slumber
had been disturbed and who were protesting at our rude
intrusion.
On the following day the wind was
blowing a gale and clouds of sea birds were drifting about
the rock in a bewildering maze, 10,000 of them in all. There
were great white gannets sailing on long powerful wings,
tipped with black; clouds of snowy kittiwakes hovering in
the air; hundreds of swift-winged murres and
razor-billed
auks darting out from the
cliffs; and quaint little parties of curious puffins perched
on the rocks. There was a constant babel of voices, the
mingled cries of the varied throngs; deep, guttural croaks
and hoarse grunts from the gannets; a variety of soft
purring notes from the murres; and sharp, piercing cries
from the active kittiwakes distinctly pronouncing the three
syllables for which they are named, as if beseeching us to
"keep away" from their precious nests.
For a more intimate study of their
nesting habits we were lowered down the face of the cliff in
a crate, dangling at the end of a long rope and whirling
helplessly about in space, but within a few feet of the
confiding, gentle birds on their nests. They were so
accustomed to the intimacy of man that it was an easy matter
to study and photograph the dainty creatures at short range.
Their nests were scattered all over the perpendicular face
of the cliff, on every available little shelf. I was
surprised to see how small and narrow a ledge could support
a nest in safety. The nests were firmly and well built of
seaweeds, grasses, and mosses, and were securely plastered
on to the rock; apparently they were made of wet seaweed
which adhered firmly to the rock as it dried; evidently the
nests had been used for successive seasons, fresh material
being added each year. They were deeply cupped and well
built up on the outer sides, so as to form safe cradles for
the young. Incubation was far advanced at this date (June
24), and many of the eggs had hatched. The nests must,
indeed, be well built to hold the weight of two lusty young
and the brooding parent in such precarious situations. Mr.
Ora W. Knight (1908) gives the dimensions of a nest found on
Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland. "Its diameter at base was 1
foot, and at top 8 inches; interior diameter, 6 inches; and
depth, 2 inches."
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Name
|
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Food
|
Fish
|
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Feeding
Techniques
|
Kleptoparasitic
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Habitat
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During non-breeding it is found on the
ocean, and it breeds inland.
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Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
|
The Gulf Coast and the southern part
of the east and west coast.
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Breeding
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
opprobrious - expressing contemptuous
reproach
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|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Contributed by Charles Wendell
Townsend
As one watches a flock of terns
whirling like driven snow, now here, now there, and ever and
anon plunging for fish, one may sometimes see a dark,
hawk-like bird suddenly appear on the scene and spread
devastation in the ranks. With relentless energy he singles
out and pursues some hapless individual until it drops its
prey. This is a Jaeger, a gull-like bird, with hawk-like
characteristics. A more appropriate name for him would be
robber rather than Jaeger or hunter, for he obtains his food
by robbing other birds. He has, however, all the grace and
agility of the true hunting birds - the hawks - but his
actions rarely end in bloodshed. After all robbery is a less
serious crime than murder, but the term robber is
opprobrious, while that of hunter is not, so it is perhaps
well that the name remains as it is.
The parasitic Jaeger is circumpolar in
its distribution and breeds throughout the barren arctic
grounds in North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia. In
Europe it nests as far south as the Shetlands. It winters
from the southern part of its summer range along the coast
even as far as Brazil, Australia, and the Cape of Good Hope,
but in the interior of the continents it is only of casual
occurence.
Spring: In the brief arctic spring,
when the ice is breaking up and the snowdrifts are
dwindling, the parasitic Jaeger arrives on the breeding
grounds on the tundra near the shores of the Arctic Ocean,
or at a distance from the sea on the shores of ponds or
lakes. It generally nests apart, not in communities. Of its
courtship nothing is known. It is possible that the "wailing
cries" described by Nelson and mentioned later may be in the
nature of the love song. When surprised near the nest,
Nelson (1887) says, "it creeps along the ground with
flapping wings to decoy away the intruder."
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Name
|
|
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Food
|
Fish
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Kleptoparasitic
|
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Habitat
|
During non-breeding it is found on the
ocean, and it breeds inland.
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Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
The Gulf Coast and the southern part
of the east and west coast.
|
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Breeding
|
See below
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
In C. Boyce Hills's account of the
Pomarine Jaeger (below) he refers to a Pomatorhine skua.
This is an earlier name for the Pomarine
Jaeger. This link goes to a
John Gould sketch of the bird using the name Pomatorhine
skua.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Nesting: Very little has been
published on the nesting habits of the pomarine jaeger. Mr.
Hennessey, in the notes referred to above, which he kindly
sent me, states that these birds are "abundant about Winter
Harbour, where they breed on the low, flat, marshy land in
the neighborhood, choosing the small mounds or slight
elevations that abound in these places upon which to rear
their brood. The nest is a slight depression in the soil of
the elevation and just deep enough to admit the eggs and
breast of the bird. No material is used in its construction,
but the bottom is covered with much loose soil and rubbish
apparently blown in accidentally." Mr. C. Boyce Hill (1900)
published the following account of the nesting habits of
this species in Siberia:
On our way down the Yenisei the
steamer which was towing us fortunately ran ashore on one of
the numerous sand banks which abound in this river. I say
fortunately because it enabled us to discover this skua
nesting. After having inquired the probable duration of our
stoppage, Popan and I agreed to explore the small islands
near at hand - a group named the Brekotsky. We took one
each, and on mine, a large, flat marsh, I observed a
Pomatorhine skua, which was presently joined by another. The
birds did not appear at all demonstrative nor to resent
intrusion, like the long-tailed skuas, so I thought they
could not be nesting. But after much searching and watching
I observed one settle right in the center of the marsh, so
at once proceeded to the spot. The bird rose when I was
within a few yards of it, and to my delight I saw the nest
with two eggs. I waited a few moments for the skua to come
within shot and killed it; after pursuing Its mate, I
captured that also. The nest was a mere depression in the
ground, on a spot rather drier than the surrounding marsh,
and to reach it I was at times up to my knees in swamp; so
that had It not been for a foundation of ice at a depth of
from 18 inches to 2 feet from the surface I do not think I
should have been able to record this event. I also found
nesting on this Island some scaup ducks and red-necked
phalaropes.
Mr. Ludwig Kumlien (1879) found this
species breeding on the Greenland coast under very different
conditions. He writes:
I have, however, nowhere found them so
very common as on the southern shores of Disko Island; at
Laxbught and Fortuna Bay there must have been many hundred
pairs nesting. Their breeding place was an Inaccessible
cliff about half a mile from the seashore. The greater
number of the birds nesting here were in the plumage
described in Doctor Coues's monograph of the Laridac as the
nearly adult plumage; but there were also a good many birds
that were unicolored blackish brown all over, but with the
long vertically twisted tail feathers. That these were
breeding I think there can be no doubt, as I saw them
carrying food up to the ledges on the cliff, for the young I
suppose.
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Name
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|
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Food
|
Fish
|
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Feeding
Techniques
|
They rob other birds, usually gulls
and terns, of the fish that they catch. This is another
example of kleptoparasitism.
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Habitat
|
Pelagic
waters of the Pacific.
|
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Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
Pelagic waters from Alaska to
California
|
|
Breeding
|
Nests in the Antarctica.
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
The South Polar Skua was unknown to
Bent when he put together the Life Histories of North
American Birds. He does have a short notation for the
Atlantic species of Skua, the Great Skua.
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Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Fish
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Diving from the air into the water.
(See below)
|
|
Habitat
|
Coastal waters
|
|
Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
, adults have breeding and
non-breeding plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Southeastern coastal waters
|
|
Breeding
|
Nests in colonies; makes shallow
depression in the sand
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Food: The food of the royal tern
consists almost wholly of small fish, up to 4 inches in
length, which it catches by plunging down into the water, in
much the same way as the smaller terns. Mr. Philip H. Gosse
(1847) thus describes the process:
High above the water we discern a
bird, the snowy whiteness of whose plumage contrasts with
the blue sky. He flies rapidly round and round in a large
circle, quickly flapping his wings without intermission.
Suddenly he arrests his flight, flutters his wings in rapid
vibration, as he looks downwards, but in a moment proceeds
as before. It was doubtless a fish near the surface, but
which disappeared before he could descend. Presently he
again stops, abort, flutters; then bringing the elbow of the
wings to a right angle, descends perpendicularly, but with a
singular turning of the body, so as to present now the back,
now the belly, alternately, to the observer; not, however,
by a rotation, but irregularly, and as if by jerks. But his
purpose is again frustrated; for on nearly reaching the
surface he recovers himself with a graceful sweep and
remounts on flagging wing. Again he circles, and again, and
again stops; at length, down he swoops, disappears with a
splash, and in a moment breaks, struggling, from the wave,
and, as if to rise burdened with prey were difficult, flags
heavily near the surface, and circling slowly round,
gradually regains his former altitude.
|
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Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Fish
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Diving from the air to the
water.
|
|
Habitat
|
Water habitats
|
|
Plumage
|
Breeding and non-breeding adult
plumage; The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
Along both coasts and found in the
interior of the eastern states.
|
|
Breeding
|
Nests in colonies; makes shallow
depression in the sand. See below
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Young: With the return of the main
colony of Caspian terns I had exceptional opportunities to
watch the feeding of the young. The adult Caspians carry
fish food to the island directly from the sea. The single
fish was carried crosswise in the bill and seemed to be
about from 2 to 3 inches in length. The fish are minnows of
different species, and at no time did they seem to swallow
this food before allowing the young to have the food; that
is, the parent bird did not first eat and partially digest
the finny delicacies. The male (?) wings his way in from the
adjacent waters with the fish crosswise in his bill. The
moment he lands on the island there is a commotion among all
the young terns. As a rule the rightful heir would seize the
fish before it would leave the parent's bill and
unhesitatingly get the fish by the head; then with one or
two gulps it would disappear head first, and nine times out
of ten if the fish was of considerable length, say about 3
or 4 inches, the youngster would keel over on its back, with
its little red feet frantically waving in the air, the
fish's tail also waving about (for the caudal fin and that
end of the fish protruded about three-quarters of an inch),
while the process of digestion started. However, this
display on the part of the little tern lasted only about
three or four minutes, and while the little fellow was lying
on its back it displayed the writhings of a person suffering
from suffocation; but once back on its feet the little
Caspian would besiege the parent bird for more
fish.
The adult Caspian has a very decided
note, and while I fully appreciate no bird's call or cry can
be properly imitated by the printed word, to me they called
"ca-nrr, ca-arr, ca-an, ca-arrrrrrrr." The young know the
call of its parents. I was very much amused in watching a
little fellow that had selected a slight hole within 2 feet
of my blind to take a sun bath. Here it would lie as still
as death until it would hear the particular "ca-arr" of its
own ma or pa.Then it would suddenly come to life, and,
opening wide its little red beak, would chirp loudly in
reply and rush about waving its little wing stumps in a most
grotesque manner. The parents would make a few circles above
their little one and alight or fly off after seeing it was
safe. An incident that would frequently happen in the
afternoon was that a little fellow would seek its hole and
lie still until the "ca-arr" cry which it knew best would
again be heard, then it would suddenly be galvanized into
instant action. The young, when frightened, utter a peculiar
whistling note.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Fish
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Diving from the air into the
water.
|
|
Habitat
|
Coastal areas
|
|
Plumage
|
Breeding and non-breeding adult
plumage; The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
Found only on the coast; primarily the
western coast
|
|
Breeding
|
Nests in colonies; makes shallow
depression in the sand
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
This beautiful tern well deserves its
name, for in color, form, and behavior it is certainly one
of the most elegant of our sea birds, the mos |