Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Gull Sizes

Herring Gull amidst Brant.

Great Black-backed Gull amidst Herring, Brant, and Ring-billed. Great Black-backed is the world’s largest species of gull.

Our triumvirate of winter gulls. From the top, Herring, Great Black-backed, and Ring-billed. Strays and exotica show up, and Bonaparte’s Gull is found off-shore, but these are the three standard gulls of the NYC winter. Ring-billed predominate by a long shot.

To spice things up, this is Great Black-backed in its first winter, or so I judge. Ring-billed in the background.

(A sunny day!) Ring-billed left, Herring right.

mthew

One response to “Gull Sizes”

  1. Chuck McAlexander

    In Centeral Park gulls seem to come in clumps. Ring-billed gulls predominate the north end of the park, but Herring gulls far outnumber ringers, black-backs and occasional strays like Laughing Gulls combined, on the reservoir. I doubt this sample is large enough to extrapolate any data for the region.

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