IdzieDec 23

Help cheer me up by sharing your photos of GULLS?? Bonus if you know what species of gull they are, or want to share any fun facts about them or interesting behaviour you've seen. I always like learning more about gulls.

Here's a throwback to this past summer, when I saw a ring-billed gull repeatedly trying and failing to eat what appeared to be an exceptionally stale piece of pizza (we were right across the street from a pizzeria). #birds #birding

Show threadPatrick Lam 
@idzie here is a black backed gull at 2000m on the Ruapehu summit plateau. It is flying over a temporary lake and so it is showing almost topaz underneath. #BirdsNZ
Dec 23 at 11:40pmWeb
Show threadPatrick Lam Dec 23
@idzie gull ID is exceptionally easy in Aotearoa New Zealand. There are just three kinds: black-backed, black-billed, and red-billed (aka silver). #BirdsNZ
Show threadexlibrarykrisDec 26
@va2lam @idzie here is one looking for a snack. I think the light is showing the black back as grey.
Fun fact: they are brown and grey until they are around 3 years old when they get their adult plumage. They look like a completely different bird and are commonly called 'mollyhawk'.
Show threadRichard LittauerDec 26
@exlibrarykris Hadn't heard they were called mollymawks when immatures. I thought that applied only to the smaller albatrosses.
Show threadexlibrarykrisDec 26

@richardlitt that's a cool new fact to me! Not a bird expert, but it seems to me that I bird names get shared around a lot.

https://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/southern-black-backed-gull

Southern black-backed gull | Karoro | New Zealand Birds Online

A large black-and-white gull with a white head and underparts, black back, yellow bill with a red spot near the tip, and pale green legs. Juveniles are dark mottled brown with black bill and legs; their plumage lightens with age until they moult into adult plumage at 3-years-old.

Show threadRichard LittauerDec 26

@exlibrarykris I misread you! Mollyhawk is a great word. I thought you wrote mollymawk.

Totally calling them mollyhawks now.

Show threadexlibrarykrisDec 26
@richardlitt and i thought yours was a typo 🤣
Show threadRichard LittauerDec 27
@exlibrarykris Hooray we both learned something today
Show threadIdzieDec 24
@va2lam oh I love this shot!