Family: Laridae, Gulls and Terns view all from this family

Description 16-18" (41-46 cm). White with gray mantle, black wing tips, and greenish-yellow legs. Bill small compared to those of larger gulls and in adults unmarked greenish-yellow. Juvenile similar to young Ring-billed Gull, but generally darker with less crisply marked tail band.

Habitat Nests along rivers and lakeshores as well as seacoasts.

Nesting 2 or 3 olive eggs, with brown or black blotches and scrawls, in a grass nest placed on a beach or riverbank, or in a treetop, on a stump, or on pilings. Almost always nests in colonies, often among other gulls.

Range Breeds from Alaska east to central Mackenzie and south to northern Saskatchewan and along coast to southern British Columbia. Winters on Pacific Coast. Also along boreal forest belt of Eurasia.

Voice   A high mewing kee-yer.

Discussion This small gull is as versatile a feeder as the larger species of gulls, but its egg-stealing in seabird colonies is less destructive. It often catches insects, sometimes from swarms in the air.