Black-tailed Gull
The Washington representatives of this family can be split into two groups, or subfamilies. The adaptable gulls are the most familiar. Sociable in all seasons, they are mainly coastal, but a number of species also nest inland. Many—but not all—are found around people. Gulls have highly variable foraging techniques and diets. Terns forage in flight, swooping to catch fish or insects. They dive headfirst into the water for fish. Although they are likely to be near water, they spend less time swimming than gulls.
General Description
This very rare visitor from East Asia is about the same size as a Ring-billed Gull. In adult plumage, which it attains in four years, the mantle is a bit darker than that of the Western Gull and the tail shows a prominent dark band just above the white tail tip. The yellow bill has a red ring close to the tip with a black ring behind it. The eye and the legs are yellow. The head is strongly streaked with brown in winter. Immature birds are more difficult to identify; consult a good field guide.
Black-tailed Gull is found along coastlines from far eastern Russia south to China, Japan, and Korea. It is a vagrant to Alaska and also farther south along the coasts of North America as far as the U.S.–Mexico border, mostly on the Atlantic side. Washington’s only accepted record was from the mouth of Willapa Bay (Pacific County), where it was seen intermittently from August to October 2004. California also has a single record, as does British Columbia. There are none for Oregon.
Revised June 2007
Family Members
- Laughing GullLarus atricilla
- Franklin's GullLarus pipixcan
- Little GullLarus minutus
- Black-headed GullLarus ridibundus
- Bonaparte's GullLarus philadelphia
- Heermann's GullLarus heermanni
- Black-tailed GullLarus crassirostris
- Short-billed GullLarus canus
- Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensis
- California GullLarus californicus
- Herring GullLarus argentatus
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Iceland GullLarus glaucoides
- Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
- Slaty-backed GullLarus schistisagus
- Western GullLarus occidentalis
- Glaucous-winged GullLarus glaucescens
- Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreus
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Sabine's GullXema sabini
- Black-legged KittiwakeRissa tridactyla
- Red-legged KittiwakeRissa brevirostris
- Ross's GullRhodostethia rosea
- Ivory GullPagophila eburnea
- Least TernSternula antillarum
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Arctic TernSterna paradisaea
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Elegant TernThalasseus elegans