Ring-billed Gull Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  The Ring-billed is a medium-sized gull with a fairly short, slim bill. When the gull perches, its long, slender wings extend well past its square-tipped tail. In flight, the birds move lightly on easy flaps of their fairly slender wings.

  Relative Size

  Roughly pigeon-sized body (but with long wings), smaller than Herring Gull

  crow-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 16.9-21.3 in (43-54 cm)
    • Weight: 10.6-24.7 oz (300-700 g)
    • Wingspan: 41.3-46.1 in (105-117 cm)

  © Evan Lipton / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Adults are clean gray above, with a white head, body and tail; their black wingtips are spotted with white. They have yellow legs and a yellow bill with a black band around it. Nonbreeding adults have brown-streaked heads. During their first two years, Ring-billed Gulls are a motley brown and gray with a pink bill and legs.

• Behavior

  These sociable gulls often fly overhead by the hundreds or feed together at a golf course, beach, or field. Strong, nimble flyers and opportunistic feeders, Ring-billed Gulls circle and hover acrobatically looking for food; they also forage afloat and on foot.
• Habitat

  Ring-billed Gulls often congregate around humans, at garbage dumps, parking lots, and freshly plowed fields. While the species is common on coastal beaches, particularly during winter, many Ring-billed Gulls lead inland lives, never setting eyes on the sea.