Bonaparte`s Gull is one of the smallest North American gull. The small size12″-14″( 33 cm) and light buoyant flight of They are reminiscent of terns. Wingspreads range from 24 to 63 in. (0.6-1.6 m).

Summer adults have black heads, grey mantles and white underparts and tail. The wings show white outer primaries with black trailing edges. The bill is slender and black. The legs and the feet are reddish-orange. In winter, the black head becomes white with dark round spot behind the eye. Juveniles show dark ear spot on the head. They have brown on the mantle, scapulars and sides of the breast. The tail is white with a black terminal band. The legs are pinkish. By late September, young birds have moulted into the first winter plumage, characterized by a narrow dark bar on the upper wings, a dark leading edge to the primaries, which together form an “M” across the upper surface of the wings. They lose the juvenile`s brown but retain the terminal band on the tail. In their first summer, they begin to show a dark hood, and the”M” pattern on the wings begins to fade through wear. Bonaparte`s Gull attain adult winter plumage in their second year.

They are escpecially common in late August , September and October when swarms of Krill enter the waters.

Bonaparte`s Gulls are present in Race Rocks as omnivores. They feed on insects, worms, fish, mollusks, crustaceans in Pedder Bay and in the waters from Pedder Bay out to Race Rocks. They nest as isolated pairs or in small colonies, in other parts of British Columbia
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum  Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadiformes
Genus Larus
Species philadelphia
Common Name: Bonaparte`s gull

Websites and references:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/BO NGUL/
Peterson Field Guides. Peterson , Roger Tory. “Western Birds”. third edition(1990) Hougthon Mifflin Press: p. 96,102

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks.

Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image File

The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams. December 2002- Giulio Esposito PC year 29