Ring-billed Gull Photo Gallery

Breeding adult

Medium-sized gull with a shorter bill. Breeding adults have black band across their yellow bill, yellow legs, a pale eye, and a pale gray back.

Nonbreeding adult

Nonbreeding adults like this one have only a little bit of tan streaking on the head or neck, but other can have more tan streaking. Otherwise nonbreeding adults look similar to breeding adults with a black band across their yellow bill and a pale eye.

Breeding adult

Medium-sized gull with fairly small bill. Breeding adults typically have clean white head, pale eye, and yellow legs.

Second winter

Second winter gulls have tan streaking on the neck, head, and chest (like this one), but others have relatively little. Note the black band across the yellow bill.

First winter

First winter birds start acquiring gray feathers on their back, but still retain some brown feathers on their wings and have variable amounts of brown streaking and spotting on their head, neck, and underparts.

Juvenile

Juveniles are a patchwork of brown and white with a dark bill that is most often pink at the base.

Breeding adult

In flight, note the small white spot on the tips of the outer primaries and relatively little black on the primaries.

Juvenile

Juveniles in flight have dark primaries and mottled inner wings with a wide, dark tail band.

First winter

First winter birds begin to acquire pale gray feathers on their back while retaining a mottled brown look overall. Note short bill that is pink at the base.