Gulls, Terns, Skimmers and Oystercatchers

Gulls, Terns, Skimmers and Oystercatchers
- Sarah and Amanda

Gulls:
Family- Laridae

•  Shorebirds
• —  Webbed feet
• —  Relatively long wings
• —  Adapted to man made environments
• —  Diet mostly consists of fish and other invertebrates

Laughing gull 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Laughing_Gull/id/ac

• Nests in coastal salt marshes
• Winters on coast
•  Dark long legs
• Orange bill
• Black wing tips
• Gray back
• Black head during breeding season
• White ring around eyes

Bonaparte’s  Gull

 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bonapartes_Gull/id/ac

• Only gull that nests in trees
• Feed on fish in large flock
• Small gull
• Primarily white base
• With some gray
•  Black tipped wings
• Black hood and beak
• Orange legs

Herring Gull

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Herring_Gull/id/ac

·         Nests on small islands and lake

·         Often found in large congregations of gulls near open water

—  Pale grey back

—  Pink legs and feet

—  Black tips on wings

—  Barrel-chested and broad winged

Ring – Billed Gull

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-billed_Gull/id/ac

• Nests in colonies on islands and off coasts
• Feeds largely on fish or whatever it can get
• Looks similar to the Herring gull but it is actually much smaller and has 
• Gray back, White bottom
•  Black on edge of wing
•  Has a distinguishable black ring around its yellow bill

Great Black Backed Gull

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Black-backed_Gull/id/ac

• World’s largest gull
• Opportunistic feeder
• Live mostly off of fish
• Nest away from predators often in offshore rocks
•  Black back, White head
• Thick yellow bill with red spot at the tip of the lower beak
• —  Pale pink legs

Terns

Family: Sternidae

• Diet consists of fish and insects
• Have webbed feet but rarely swim
• Nest in salt marshes on barrier beaches in large colonies
• Forster's tern is exclusively restricted to North American Year round
• Winter's on the coast
• Breed in the northern states

Forsters Tern

http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/595/articles/introduction

• Medium sized tern
• Black Cap
• White everywhere else
• Distinguishing feature, long thin tail - deeply forked
• Base of bill is orange
• Tip of bill is black

Skimmers

Family: Rynchopidae

• Only birds in North America with uneven bills
• Lower bill is longer than upper bill
• Social birds that nest in colonies and form large flocks, nest along the coast

Black Skimmer

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Skimmer/id/ac

• Medium to large sized shorebird
• Red base of bill
• Black tip of bill
• black back and cap
• White underside
• Short red legs
• Long pointed wings
• Lower their mandible into the water while flying and snap it closed upon detecting prey

Oystercatcher

Family:Haematopodidae

• Waders
• Found in coastal regions year round
• Nest on the ground on sandy beaches or near barrier islands
• Diet consists of shellfish

American Oystercatcher

 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Oystercatcher/id/ac

• Large shorebird
• Brown-Black back and head
• White underside
• Long slender red orange bill
• Red orange ring around eye
• Pink stilted legs
• Use bill to dig for shellfish