Gulls, terns and skimmers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, despite their raucous voices and aggressive and rapacious behaviour, I also find gulls fascinating. As a group, they are very successful, found in almost all corners of the world, from the tropics to the poles, and from sea level to high plateaus, as long as there are water bodies. This also accounts for the terns, whereas two of the three skimmer species are restricted to tropical areas.

Together, these three groups constitute the family Laridae. Of the 22 genera and about 100 species in the family, gulls comprise 10 genera and about 53 species, terns 11 genera and c. 47 species, and skimmers a single genus with 3 species.

Below, I present those members of Laridae that I have managed to photograph around the world. Within each of the three groups, the birds are presented in alphabetical order, according to genus and species.

I have probably misidentified some species, especially among the American gulls. I would be grateful to get corrections. You may use the address at the bottom of the page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khroizo (‘to colour’) and kephale (‘head’), alluding to the dark head of many of the species in the breeding season.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin cirrhus (‘grey’), and Ancient Greek kephale (‘head’). The Latin part is modified, as it originally stemmed from Ancient Greek kirrhos (‘tawny’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates Italian naturalist Giuseppe Gené (1800-1847), professor of zoology and director of the Royal Zoological Museum at Turin.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific and common names commemorate German physician and ornithologist Karel Johan Gustav Hartlaub (1814-1900), one of the founders of Journal für Ornithologie, in 1852.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name means ‘New Holland’, which was the old term for Australia. The subspecific name may be derived from Ancient Greek skopelos (‘promontory’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The common name honours French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857), 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano, who spent four years in the United States, updating Alexander Wilson’s Ornithology or History of the Birds of the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

In former days, this species was very common in most of Europe, but it has declined drastically during the last 30 to 40 years. It does not breed on house roofs, but often on artificial islands in ponds in city parks.

The specific name is from the Latin ridere (‘to laugh’), referring to one of its calls, ke-ke-ke, mostly heard in the breeding colonies. Despite its common name, the head (in the breeding plumage) is not black, but a dark chocolate brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was named for British businessman and ornithologist Howard Saunders (1835-1907).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Portuguese serra (‘mountain range’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name stems from German naturalist and explorer Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811). During his travels in Siberia and Kyrgyzstan in 1773, he collected a large gull, naming it Larus ichthyaetus, the specific name derived from Ancient Greek ikhthys (‘fish’) and aetos (‘eagle’). Thus, loosely translated, the name means ‘the gull that resembles a fish-eagle’, presumably alluding to its large size. Today, this gull is named Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus (see below).

Thus the generic name means ‘fish-eagle’ – a very unfortunate name for a group of gulls!

 

The specific name was given in honour of German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich (1796-1825), who travelled extensively in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. He died of malaria in Ethiopia, only 29 years old.

 

 

 

 

 

As explained above under the genus name, Pallas originally named this gull Larus ichthyaetus, which loosely translates as ‘the gull that resembles a fish-eagle’. However, after being placed in this genus, its name means ‘fish-eagle – fish-eagle’ – a ridiculous name for a gull!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and ophthalmos (‘eye’), referring to the white spots above and below the eye.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of Ancient Greek laros, pertaining to a kind of ravenous sea bird, presumably a gull.

 

In later years, numbers of European herring gulls have increased significantly in cities, where the birds place their nest on top of high-rise buildings.

The specific name is derived from the Latin argentum (‘silver’) and the suffix atus (‘resembling’), thus ‘silvery’, presumably alluding to its pale grey wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was applied in honour of British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer Sir Edward Belcher (1799-1877) who performed survey work on the Pacific coast of South America.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin cachinnare (‘to laugh aloud’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’, originally from Proto-Italian kaznos (‘pale grey’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to the Delaware River. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was applied in reference to the Dominican Order of friars, who wear black and white robes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The nominate race is breeding in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland eastwards to the White Sea, south of the Kola Peninsula, and also in the Baltic Sea. Its mantle is jet black.

Subspecies graellsii breeds in western Europe, the British Isles, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. Its mantle is dark grey.

Subspecies intermedius breeds in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, south-western Sweden, and western Norway. Its mantle is sooty black.

Subspecies heuglini is breeding from northern Russia eastwards to the northern part of central Siberia. Its mantle is rather pale. It is sometimes considered a separate species. Birds in the eastern part of the range of heuglini are often paler grey above, by some regarded as a separate subspecies, taimyrensis. They are possibly a result of hybridization between heuglini and the vega gull (below).

Finally, subspecies barabensis breeds in south-central Siberia and northern Kazakhstan.

The wintering area is huge, encompassing the Baltic Sea, both sides of the Atlantic, Africa, both coastal and inland, Arabia and India, also along rivers, and along coasts from Korea and Japan southwards to southern China.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘brown’. It may refer to immature birds, which sometimes have a brownish tinge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek glaukos (‘blue-grey’), alluding to the wing colour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek glaukos (‘blue-grey’) and oides (‘resembling’), referring to its resemblance to the glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus), which was previously called Larus glaucus. The common name is misleading, as the bird is only a winter visitor to Iceland.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours explorer and naturalist Adolphus Lewis Heermann (1821-1865), who travelled throughout the United States, collecting birds, fishes, reptiles, and plants.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek hyperboreos, composed of hyper (‘over’) and boreios (‘northern’), in Greek mythology referring to a race of people living in the extreme north. The common name is derived from Ancient Greek glaukos (‘blue-grey’), alluding to the colour of the wings of some subspecies of the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘marine’, derived from mare (‘sea’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is a misspelling of the name of German physician and zoologist Georg Christian Karl Wilhelm Michahelles (1807-1834) who collected birds in Dalmatia and Greece. He died of dysentery in Greece, only 27 years old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a large bird, to 68 cm long and weighing up to 1.4 kg. It is divided into two subspecies. The northern nominate race, found from central California northwards, has paler wing colour and darker eye colour than the southern subspecies wymani. In central and northern California, you may encounter both subspecies.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘western’, derived from occidens (‘west’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours English chemist and mineralogist James Smithson (c. 1765-1829), who was born in France as the illegitimate child of Elizabeth Macie and Hugh Percy, the 1st Duke of Northumberland. He was named Jacques-Louis Macie, but his mother brought him to Britain, where his name was changed to James Louis Macie. Following his mother’s death in 1800, he adopted his father’s original surname of Smithson. As he had no children, he wrote in his will that his estate be used “to found in Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” Thus he became the patron of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., although he had never visited the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and phaios (‘dusky’), alluding to the dark plumage of most species, and to the white crescent above and below the eyes.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin atra (‘black’) and cilla (‘tail’). This is puzzling, as the laughing gull has a white tail (see flight picture below). According to the Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), when naming the bird, may have intended to write atricapilla (‘black-haired’), alluding to its black head in the breeding plumage.

The common name refers to its call.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘modest’ or ‘plain’, alluding to the grey plumage of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The southern breeding populations have been declining drastically in later years due to the climatic change, which causes copepods to migrate further north. This means that there is less food for the small fish species, which constitute the main food item of the kittiwake, and these fish species have declined dramatically. In the Shetland Islands, for instance, the kittiwake has declined by no less than 95%.

In winter, the kittiwake disperses to a huge area in subarctic and temperate seas.

The generic name is derived from the Icelandic name of the bird, rita, whereas the English name was given in allusion to its call. The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek tridaktylos (‘three-toed’), referring to the fact that this species is missing the small, back-pointing fourth toe, which most other gull species possess.

In North America, this species is called black-legged kittiwake to differentiate it from its near relative, the red-legged kittiwake (R. brevirostris), which breeds on small islands in the far northern Pacific.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems that the generic name was taken out of the blue. It has been labelled “a fancy word, apparently devoid of meaning.” The specific and common names honour Irish astronomer, physicist, and Arctic explorer Edward Sabine (1783-1883), who collected a specimen in 1819, when he participated in an expedition, led by Captain John Ross (1777-1856), the aim of which was to search for the Northwest Passage. Later, Sabine became the 30th President of the Royal Society 1861-1871.

Some authorities include this bird in the genus Larus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘stupid’ or ‘foolish’. In the old days, sailors often killed these birds for food, and they found them very stupid, as they were confiding and thus easy to kill.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘stupid’ or ‘foolish’ (see above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khelidonios (‘swallow-like’), from khelidon (‘swallow’), referring to the elegant flight style of these terns.

 

The specific name, meaning ‘hybrid’ in Latin, was applied by Prussian naturalist Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811), who presumed that the bird he shot was a hybrid between white-winged tern (below) and common tern (Sterna hirundo, below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and pteron (‘wing’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was formerly common in Europe, but has declined drastically due to drainage of wetlands, and the usage of chemicals in farmlands, which has practically wiped out the insects that this bird feeds on. Today, it breeds in tiny numbers across Continental Europe, nortwards to southern Sweden.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘black’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek gelao (‘to laugh’) and khelidon (‘swallow’), alluding to its call and its elegant flight style. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of the Nile’, presumably the type locality. The common name alludes to the rather heavy bill of this bird.

Previously, the Australian gull-billed tern (G. macrotarsa) was considered a subspecies of the common gull-billed tern, but is today regarded as a separate species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Greek, meaning ‘water-swallow’, alluding to the graceful flight of most terns. However, I must say that the name is not very well chosen for the Caspian tern, which is probably the least swallow-like among terns!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek onyx (‘claw’ or ‘nail’) and prion (‘saw’). Presumably, these birds have sharp claws.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘dark’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Old English stearn, which appears in the poem The Seafarer, from the 10th Century. A similar word was used for these birds by the Frisians, whereas the Scandinavians used, and still use, the word terne (Danish and Norwegian) or tärna (Swedish).

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin acutus (‘sharp-pointed’) and cauda (‘tail’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin aurantia (‘orange’), which refers to the colour of the bill.

 

 

 

 

 

It also breeds in a few tropical areas, e.g. in the Bahamas and Cuba, and on small islands off Venezuela. Since 1980, small breeding colonies have existed on islands off the east and west coasts of Sri Lanka.

It spends the winter along coasts from about 20 degrees northern latitude southwards to southern South America, Africa, and Australia.

The specific name is the Latin name of swallows. It dates back to the 1600s, where the bird was called Hirundo marina (‘sea-swallow’) by English ornithologist and ichthyologist Francis Willughby (1635-1672). The name alludes to the elegant flight of terns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is famous for its long-distance migration, flying from the northern breeding areas to Antarctica and back again every year, the shortest distance between these areas being 19,000 km. This means that it experiences two summers per year. One speculates if the bird doesn’t like dark nights.

A Dutch tracking study from 2013 has concluded that the average annual migration is about 48,700 km. An Arctic tern may live up to 30 years, and during its lifetime it may travel up to 2.4 million km.

Some examples of its long-distance migration: An adult bird, which was ringed on the island of Saltholm, Denmark, in May 1958, was shot along the pack ice close to the Antarctic coast south of Australia, in February 1959 – a distance of about 15,700 km. A chick, which was ringed in summer 1982 on the Farne Islands, Northumberland, England, reached Melbourne, Australia, in October, just 3 months after fledging – a journey of more than 22,000 km. A third example is a chick ringed in Labrador, Canada, in July 1928, which was found in South Africa 4 months later – a distance of about 12,600 km.

The specific name probably refers to the beauty and elegance of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘striated’. One wonders where this name came from. The adult bird certainly has no stripes anywhere, but the species may have been described from an immature bird, which has mottled wings and back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the 20th Century, most European populations declined drastically due to habitat loss, pollution, and human disturbance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to the Antilles, another name for the Caribbean islands.

 

 

 

 

 

Friedrich Boie described many new species and several new genera of birds. He and his brother Heinrich also described about 50 new species of reptiles.

The generic name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘fisherman’, ultimately from thalassa (‘sea’).

 

Cabot’s tern is divided into 2 subspecies, breeding on the Atlantic Coast from Delaware southwards, around the Gulf of Mexico to Belize, on the Bahamas and many Caribbean islands, and from northern South America southwards along the Atlantic coast to northern Argentina. Northern populations are migratory. It is a common winter visitor to the Pacific coast, from south-eastern Mexico southwards to Peru.

The specific name is derived from the Latin acus (‘needle’) and flavidus (‘yellowish’), alluding to the yellow point on the long, sharp bill. The common name refers to American physician and ornithologist Samuel Cabot III (1815-1885), who described the species in 1847, based on a skin collected in the Yucatan Peninsula.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of Bengal’, the type locality. In the old days, the term Bengal denoted an area that covered much of northern India and Bangladesh.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates Prussian naturalist and pharmacist Karl Heinrich Bergius (1790-1818), a cavalryman in the Prussian campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. He subsequently studied pharmacy in Berlin where his botanical interests were noted by Martin Lichtenstein (1780-1857) at the Berlin Zoological Museum, who sent him to Cape Town, South Africa, to work as an assistant pharmacist, and to make collections for the Berlin Museum. However, after only two years, he died of pulmonary tuberculosis.

 

 

 

 

 

The northernmost populations are migratory. It is a common winter visitor along the coasts of Mexico and Central America, and also along the entire Brazilian coast.

 

 

 

 

 

It was first collected by English ornithologist John Latham (1740-1837) at Sandwich, Kent, southern England, hence its specific and common names.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The three species are widely separated geographically. The black skimmer (below) lives in the New World, the African skimmer (below) is found in central and southern parts of Africa, and the Indian skimmer (R. albicollis) is distributed in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent and in Myanmar.

Incidentally, the correct spelling of the generic name is Rhynchops, derived from Ancient Greek rhynkhos (‘bill’) and ops (‘face’). However, when the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) described the black skimmer in 1755, he misspelt the name as Rynchops. According to the nomenclatoric rules, the first published name is the valid one.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin flavus (‘yellow’) and rostrum (‘beak’), alluding to the yellow tip of the otherwise red bill.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘black’.