Ross's 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
A glamorous native of the high Arctic in the Old World, Ross’s Gull is rarely seen by North American birders except along the northern Alaska coast (where it occurs in fall migration) or at Churchill, Manitoba, where a small, isolated population was discovered nesting some years ago. A small gull—the size of a Bonaparte’s—it has a tiny, dark bill, pale gray upperparts, and underparts washed with pink in adults. In flight, the long, wedge-shaped tail and prominent white trailing edge of the wing are evident; the underwing usually appears darker than the upperwing. Consult a good field guide for separating immature plumages of Ross’s Gull and other small gull species.
Ross’s Gull has been recorded only about two dozen times in the Lower 48, from coast to coast and as far south as Maryland, Missouri, and California. Washington’s only Ross’s Gull visited McNary Dam on the Columbia River, on both the Oregon and Washington sides, from 27 November to 1 December 1994. Oregon had one previous record, at Yaquina Bay from 18 February to 1 March 1987. Idaho also has a single record, from 21 to 27 January 1998 at the American Falls Reservoir. The first Ross’s Gull to be found in temperate North America visited Victoria, British Columbia, from 27 October to 9 November 1966. This is still the only record for the province.
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