Bonaparte's Gull

A small gull with a black bill and a white wedge at the tip of the wing. Has a black head in breeding plumage and a white head with a black mark behind the eye in winter. Length: 28-30 cm.; weight: 170-239 g. Audio (M. Oberle). Nests in trees in swamps from Alaska to central Canada. Normally winters on the coasts of the USA, Bahamas and Cuba. Accidental in Puerto Rico (e.g. Río Añasco and Mayagüez Bay, 3-27 Feb. 2000, 27 Jan. 2001).

TAXONOMY: CHARADRIIFORMES; LARIDAE; Larinae

Breeding plumage - Photo: G. Beaton

Breeding plumage - Photo: J. Hornbuckle

Immature with Royal Terns, Mayagüez, 27 Feb. 2000 -
Photo: M. Oberle

References

Bent, A.C. 1921. Life histories of North American gulls and terns. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 113. (Reprinted by Dover Press, 1963).

Burger, J., and M. Gochfeld. 2002. Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia). in The Birds of North America, No. 634 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY.

Grant, P.J. 1997. Gulls: a guide to identification, 2^nd Ed. Academic Press, NY.

Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Harrison, P. 1987. A field guide to seabirds of the world. Stephen Greene Press, Lexington, MA.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Bonaparte's Gull, Spanish text

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