Bonaparte's gull

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Bonaparte's gull
Adult with breeding plumage
Adult with non-breeding plumage

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Chroicocephalus
Species:
C. philadelphia
Binomial name
Chroicocephalus philadelphia
(Ord, 1815)
Synonyms
  • Larus philadelphia
  • Sterna philadelphia Ord, 1815[2]

Bonaparte's gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) is a member of the gull family Laridae found mainly in northern North America. At 28 to 38 cm (11 to 15 in) in length, it is one of the smallest species of gull. Its plumage is mainly white with grey upperparts. During breeding season, Bonaparte's gull gains a slaty-black hood. The sexes are similar in appearance.

Taxonomy and etymology

When

monotypic across its range.[6]

The species is named for

type specimen was collected.[7]

Description

Bonaparte's gull is among the smallest of the gull species; only little gull and Saunders's gull are smaller.[8] Adults range from 28 to 38 cm (11 to 15 in) in length, with a wingspan of 76–84 cm (30–33 in) and a body mass of 180–225 g (6.3–7.9 oz).[9] There is no difference in plumage or bare part colour between the sexes,[10] though males tend to be heavier than females.[11] Bonaparte's gull is smaller-bodied, smaller-headed, and smaller-billed than the other common hooded gulls of North America.[12] The adult has grey upperparts and white underparts; its wingtips are black above and pale below. In breeding plumage, it has a slaty black hood, which it loses in non-breeding plumage. Its short, thin bill is black, and its legs are orangish-red.[13]

First year Bonaparte's gulls have the same plumage in winter and summer, but the summer plumage is paler due to wear. Fewer than 5 percent of Bonaparte's gulls acquire a dark hood in their first summer, and on those that do, the hood is duller than on breeding adults.[citation needed]

Distribution and habitat

Bonaparte's gull breeds in

boreal forest across southern Alaska and much of interior western Canada, as far east as central Quebec and south to within 320 km (200 mi) of the United States/Canada border.[14] It avoids dense stands of conifers, instead choosing more open areas, such as the treed edges of bogs, fens, marshes, ponds, or islands. It typically nests within 60 m (200 ft) of open water.[15] It winters along the coasts of North America, and in the Great Lakes.[14] It is a rare vagrant to western Europe and the Azores, where it generally associates with black-headed gulls.[16]
It is also an occasional non-breeding vagrant to the Hawaiian Islands.[17] In 2017 a breeding pair was spotted on Iceland.[18]

Behaviour

They are

terns
.

Feeding

Like most gulls, Bonaparte's gull has a varied diet, with prey items changing over the course of the year, and from year to year. During the breeding season, it is largely

black-bellied plovers.[23]

Breeding

Once they leave the nest, chicks follow their parents to the nearest water.

Bonaparte's gulls begin breeding at two years of age; they are thought to be monogamous.[15] The breeding season begins in mid-June.[24] Courting pairs perform swooping display flights, calling loudly and diving at each other, and then drop down to perch on a branch. Crouched and facing each other, with neck and crown feathers erected and wings slightly raised, they scream at each other with bills opened wide, bobbing up and down as they do so. This display can continue for several minutes before ending abruptly; afterwards, the birds may sit quietly together for some time before separating again.[25]

They raise a single

predators such as hawks, common ravens and humans. There is some evidence that human activity in the area of their nests may cause decreased productivity — they are known to travel as far as a kilometer (about a half mile) to mob people, for example — but, contrarily, some choose to nest near human habitation.[15]

The female lays a

incubated by both parents for 22–24 days.[15][24] Studies have shown that breeding populations can be significantly impacted by bad weather. In one multi-year study in Churchill, Manitoba, for example, more than half of the eggs laid in observed nests were blown out of those nests during storms; only 42% of eggs survived to hatching.[28]

Hatchling Bonaparte's gulls are

natal down feathers, and with eyes already opened. The down is yellowish-buff, greyer on the flanks and belly, and somewhat pinkish on the breast, with dark brown mottling on the upperparts and head. The bill is blue-black with a pinkish base, and the legs and feet are pinkish-buff.[24] Young birds typically leave the nest within 2–7 days of hatching, jumping out and following their parents to the nearest open water.[26] Both parents tend the young.[24] The time it takes the young to fledge is unknown.[15] Bonaparte's gulls may live to 18 years.[29]

Voice

Bonaparte's gull
Long Island, NY, April 2004. By Tony Phillips.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Bonaparte's gull has a voice described as nasal and raspy, with calls variously transcribed as cherr or cheeer.[30]

Conservation

Because of its extremely large range and its increasing population, Bonaparte's gull is listed as a species of

Migratory Bird Treaty Act.[31] Because it occurs in Europe and Africa only as a vagrant, it is not protected by the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.[32] The species is known to be preyed upon by peregrine falcons.[33]

Like many birds, it hosts a number of internal and external parasites. The

capillaries.[38] Externally, it is known to carry several species of lice, including Actornithophilus funebre, Degeeriella atrimarginata, Degeeriella punctata, Menopon species, and Philopterus gonothorax.[39]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22694432A132550875.en
    .
  2. ^ [Ord, George] (1815). "Zoology of North America". A New Geographical, Historical, and Commercial Grammar; and Present State of the Several Kingdoms of the World. By Guthrie, W.; [Ferguson, J.]; [Knox, J.]; [Ord, G.] Vol. 2 (Second American improved ed.). Philadelphia: Johnson & Warner. p. 319.
  3. ^ Baird, S. F.; Brewer, Thomas Mayo; Ridgway, Robert (1884). The Water Birds of North America. Vol. II. Boston, Massachusetts, US: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 260–264. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  4. PMID 16054399. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  5. S2CID 86708144
    .
  6. ^ "ITIS Report: Chroicocephalus philadelphia (Ord, 1815)". itis.gov. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  7. ISBN 978-1-60938-225-4
    . Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  8. ISBN 978-0-395-60291-1
    .
  9. ^ "Bonaparte's Gull: Life History". All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  10. ISBN 978-0-618-72641-7
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5
    . Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  12. ISBN 978-0-618-51469-4
    .
  13. ISBN 978-1-4262-0828-7
    .
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-0-618-23648-0
    . Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7748-1066-1
    . Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  16. ISBN 978-0-7136-3960-5
    . Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  17. ^ Pyle, Robert L. (Jan 2017). "The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status". Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  18. ^ "Netfugl - Artikler".
  19. ^
    JSTOR 408702
    . Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  20. JSTOR 4079241
    . Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  21. JSTOR 4159476
    .
  22. JSTOR 4159631
    .
  23. JSTOR 4160750
    . Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-0-691-12295-3
    .
  25. JSTOR 4077656
    . Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  26. ^
    ISBN 978-1-60469-337-9
    .
  27. JSTOR 4077250
    .
  28. JSTOR 1934750
    .
  29. ISBN 978-0-7566-5867-0
    . Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  30. ISBN 978-0-618-96614-1
    .
  31. ^ "Migratory Bird Treaty Act Protected Species". fws.gov. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  32. ^ "Expanding the list of species covered by AEWA" (PDF). AEWA Technical Committee. 2005. p. 9. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  33. JSTOR 3800938
    .
  34. JSTOR 3271604
    . Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  35. ^ Ward, Henry S. (15 December 1899). "On Reighardia, A New Genus of Linguatulida". Science. 10 (259): 882. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  36. PMID 5857284
    .
  37. S2CID 84335301. Open access icon
  38. JSTOR 3275817
    .
  39. JSTOR 4509367
    . Retrieved 3 January 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chroicocephalus philadelphia.
Wikispecies has information related to Chroicocephalus philadelphia.
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