Lesser Black-backed 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
The Lesser Black-backed Gull is about the size of a California Gull but slimmer looking. In adult plumage, attained in four years, it is like no other gull in Washington: dark gray mantle (darker than our local race of Western Gull), yellow legs, yellow eye, white head in breeding plumage streaked brown in winter. Immature plumages are more complicated and better covered in field guides than is possible here.
This European native has been an increasingly common visitor to North America since the 1970s, mostly along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts but also in lesser numbers in the interior of the continent and on the West Coast. The first record from the Pacific Northwest occurred at Revelstoke, British Columbia, in October 1989; the province now has about 10 records, all but one of them from the interior. The first Washington record was from Walla Walla (Walla Walla County) in February 2000. Idaho’s first record came at Boise in November 1999 and is the only one accepted so far, although numerous other reports are under review by the state’s bird records committee. Oregon has a single accepted record, and California has more than 20. Washington’s 10 accepted records range from early September through mid-April. Nine of them are from the Columbia Basin, and the other is from Port Angeles (Clallam County).
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