Bonaparte's Gull

You know it’s winter when you see the Bonaparte’s Gulls back in Vancouver! These gulls are smaller, more active, and just plain prettier than the Glaucous-winged and Herring Gulls that will steal your lunch at your summer picnic. You can recognize them by the black bill, black spot behind their eye, and black trailing edges of their primary feathers. In the summer, their whole heads turn black to impress each other for the breeding season. 

 

There is, in fact, no such thing as a “Sea” Gull. Many gulls, including Bonaparte’s, spend their summers near lakes and rivers in the middle of the continent. They make their nests in trees in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska and eat mainly insects throughout the summer. This particular gull was on the hunt, looking for fish and other marine life to nab off of the water’s surface. She was flying in circles around the Jericho pier.

"Got any fries?" asks the Glaucous-winged Gull.