Franklin's Gull

Much like the Laughing Gull, but with a white band separating the black tip of the primary feathers from the rest of the gray upper wings. Immature birds have a black band that extends across the tail, except for the outermost tail feathers. Length: 32-38 cm.; weight: 220-335 g. Breeds on the prairies of central North America and normally winters on the Pacific Coast of Central and South America. Accidental in the Puerto Rico (e.g. 2 birds at the Arecibo pier, 24 November 2003).

TAXONOMY: CHARADRIIFORMES; LARIDAE; Larinae

Adult, breeding plumage - Photo: G. Beaton

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. 1994. Franklin's Gull (Larus pipixcan). No. 116 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, PA, and Am. Ornithol. Union, Washington, D.C.

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.

Franklin's Gull, Spanish text

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