Bonaparte

Bonaparte’s Gull

Chroicocephalus philadelphia
(Laridae)

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13.5 inches long. 33 inch wingspan. Bonaparte’s Gulls have an overall white body with a gray back and upperwings. On adult breeding birds the bill is black and the legs are orange-red.The head is black with narrow white crescents above and below the eye. The wings have narrow black tips on the trailing edge of the primaries. The wings also show a narrow white wedge on the front. On fall birds the bill is still black but the black hood is gone and replaced by a black spot behind the eye.

 

The Bonaparte’s Gull is a common migrant through the Omaha area but is seldom seen at the Forest.

 

Bonaparte’s Gulls breed on ponds, rivers and marshes in Canada.

 

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