Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Above and below: A cooperative Black-headed Gull in Baltimore Co., Maryland (12/18/2011). A nice find by Russ Ruffing and welcome motivation for us all to keep checking the Ring-billed Gull flocks at our local parking lots.

Below: Black-headed Gull at Schoolhouse Pond in Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County, Maryland (12/18/2004).

Below: A Black-headed Gull at Paper Mill Flats, Baltimore Co., Maryland (12/11/2010). A great find by Jon Corcoran.

A Black-headed Gull at Paper Mill Flats, Baltimore Co., Maryland (12/11/2010). A great find by Jon Corcoran. Photo by Bill Hubick.

Below: Documentation photos of an immature Black-headed Gull at the Ocean City Inlet, Maryland (11/13/2009).
A great find by Frode Jacobsen.

Documentation photos of an immature Black-headed Gull at the Ocean City Inlet, Maryland
(11/13/2009).<br /> A great find by Frode Jacobsen.

Documentation photos of an immature Black-headed Gull at the Ocean City Inlet, Maryland
(11/13/2009).<br /> A great find by Frode Jacobsen.


Comments: This attractive bird is in non-breeding plumage, as Black-headed Gulls are rare-but-annual winter visitors to this area. They breed primarily in Europe and central Asia, and range from northeastern North America and southern Greenland to northeastern China. Many winter in Africa, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Numbers of this species have risen in North America since the 1950s, and there are now breeding colonies in northeastern Canada. The earliest breeding record I could find for North America was from 1977. (With Ring-billed Gulls in top photo.)


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