10/07/2026
Make room pigeons! Our Migratory Bird of the Day 84 knows how to make itself at home in human-modified landscapes!
For free activity sheet🧩, videos, coloring page 🖍️& more info visit our website: bit.ly/RingbilledGull
Today we stop to observe one of North America’s most adaptable gulls: the Ring-billed Gull. These medium-sized birds are a living example of population recovery and adaptation to changing environments. 🌊
At first glance, they may look like ordinary gulls, but observe closely and you’ll notice the details that make them unique. Adults have pale gray backs and wings, black wingtips, white underparts, yellow legs, pale eyes, and a yellow bill marked with the bold black ring that gives the species its name. Their heads are white during the breeding season 💕 but often show dark spots and streaks in winter, especially toward the back of the head and neck. Young birds look quite different, with mottled brown plumage and pink bills tipped in black. As they grow and molt, they gradually take on the adults’ cleaner gray-and-white appearance.
Their story is fascinating. Ring-billed Gulls declined sharply in the late 1800s as people encroached on their nesting grounds and hunted them for feathers. By the early 1900s, many breeding colonies had disappeared. Legal protection helped them recover, and their ability to adapt to human-modified habitats gave them another advantage. A true story of resilience!
These gulls are opportunists. Their remarkably broad diet includes fish🐟️, insects, earthworms, small mammals, grains, and food discarded by people. They search for food while walking on land, skim the water for fish, and sometimes stamp their feet in shallow water to uncover small creatures. You might also see them feeding in a freshly plowed field—or cleverly stealing a meal from another bird!
Ring-billed Gulls are highly social and vocal. Their calls range from short notes to loud, rising squeals, and they use both sounds and body movements to communicate. When defending a territory, a gull may lower its head, call, and then toss its head back in an emphatic display. Imagine the noise of an 🔊 entire nesting colony calling at once!
After breeding, some Ring-billed Gulls migrate south to spend the nonbreeding season in the West Indies. They are most often seen in The Bahamas, Greater Antilles, Cayman Islands, and Barbados; sightings are less frequent elsewhere in the region. Although they have been recorded in every month of the year, your best chance of seeing one is October through May. Look near 🌴 beaches, harbors, lakes, and other waters—or even in urban areas, where these resourceful birds sometimes gather to feed.
If you spot a gull this winter, take a closer look. An adult’s black bill ring, pale eye, yellow legs, and spotted winter head can help you identify it. Younger birds are mottled brown and lack the adult’s bright yellow bill. Each Ring-billed Gull tells a story of resilience, adaptability, and survival.
Thanks to Allen Anido Escalona for the text and Eden Garrod / for the lovely illustration.
📸 (nonbreeding) Kyle Blaney ML181275791, (juvenile) Daniel Jauvin ML172228961
Caribbean Bird Festivals - CEBF & WMBD Environment for the Americas World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD)
