| Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766)) |
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Scientific name: Larus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) Common name: Black-headed Gull French name: Mouette rieuse, Mouette à capuchon brun Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae Size: Body size: 37 to 43 cm;Weight: 225 to 350 g;Wingspan: 94 to 110 cm. Habitat: Marshes and coastal lakes. The Black-headed Gull has also an inland range extension where it feeds in recently ploughed fields. Food: Omnivorous: Insects, worms, plants and rubbish. Nesting: Black-headed Gulls breed in large colonies. They build nests on the ground. Females lay about 3 eggs early May. There is only one brood per year. Migration: In winter, northern and eastern populations move southwards and meet to form large inland colonies. Geographic area: Eurasia, Island, western North America. |
When in nuptial plumage the Black-headed Gull has a dark brown-chocolate head. In winter the head is white with a black mark behind the eye. The legs are red. This is a good mark to differentiate from other black headed species. The wing leading edge is a very white colour. The tip of the wings is black. the bill is dark and reddish. Juveniles are brown and live with adults. |
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Here is a Black-headed Gull in nuptial plumage. This explains its common name. |
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The head's colour varies from brown to black. |
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I future, I must use exposure correction to avoid bright saturated areas. The red coloured legs confirm the identification. |
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The high number of Black-headed Gulls allows to try many pictures of birds in flight. |
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The plumage is overexposed because of the sun light. Perhaps a picture in RAW mode would have allowed me to correct the exposure with post processing on the computer. |
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At least one accepatble picture in flight. |
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The colour of the head is very changing from one Gull to another. |
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You can clearly see here the white front border of the wings and the black tip of the primary remiges. |
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While in Valencia, we took the opportunity to go bird watching at the Albufera Natural Park with its large lake very close to the seaside. Just a little before arriving we stopped at the Racó de l'Olla Interpretation Centre which is equipped for bird watching. There are a few Black-headed Gulls over there among many other species. |
André Bon December 2020