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Black-headed Gull


Black-headed Gull
Photo Information
Copyright: Gert Paassen (Gert-Paassen) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 507 W: 2 N: 2036] (6396)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-05-15
Categories: Birds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-08-30 4:52
Viewed: 252
Points: 26
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note [Dutch]
Latin name - Larus ridibundus

Description
The Black-headed Gull is a medium-sized gull and our commonest inland gull.

The range of plumages that they have depends on their age and time of year, as it does for most gulls, and so they are not the easiest birds to identify.

All year round the adult Black-headed Gull has silver grey upperparts and white underparts, and dark red bill and legs. The wings have black wing-tips and a white edge along the forewing (which separates it from the Common Gull).

In the summer, the adult has a dark chocolate brown head (but not nape and neck), but in the winter it has only a small black smudge to the rear of each eye.

Juveniles have ginger-brown mantle, shoulders, and wing feathers, but over the space of two years become more like the adults.

The scarcer Mediterranean Gull is very similar in appearance, but is a paler grey, lacks the black wing tips, has blood-red bill and legs and a truly black head that extends from the nape into the neck.

Voice
Call
Quicktime mp3

They have variety of calls, one of the more common being a harsh laugh.

Feeding
They will feed on insects, worms, small fish, carrion and scraps, scavenge on household and industrial waste, and steal food from other birds.

Nesting
They nest in colonies on cliffs, the ground, or on buildings. The nest is usually a scrape in the ground or a pile of dead plant material.

The light greenish-blue eggs have dark blotches on them and are smooth and glossy. They are about 52 mm by 37 mm in size. Both birds share the duty of incubating the eggs and feeding the precocial nestlings.

Movements
The birds leave their colonies in July when the breeding season is over, returning in March the following year. Most UK birds are resident, but may fly great distances within the British Isles. The winter population includes many Icelandic, Scandinavian and northern European birds.

In the winter, they often form large flocks, sometimes with other gull species: roosting on lakes and reservoirs at night, feeding on farmland, fields and landfill sites in the daytime, and flying in large formations between the two.

Conservation
The Black-headed Gull is an extremely successful species, adapting to man-made change to its environment very well. The species has to be controlled in some areas as they harass and predate higher risk species.
cicindela, Juyona, zulfu, techranger, jconceicao, bahadir, nglen, siggi, Silvio2006, boreocypriensis, Jamesp has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To vanderschelden: BedanktGert-Paassen 1 08-30 23:25
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Gert!
Very nice capture of this Black-headed Gull! I like pose of the bird and very nice details/DOF. Note is very informative, I can easy find a lot of details about biology, ecology and behaviour of this species :)
TFS and have a nice afternoon!
Greetings from Lodz,
Radomir

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2106 W: 6 N: 2115] (13579)
  • [2008-08-30 6:10]

Hola Gert,
estupenda captura y enfoque...
perfecto plumaje y bg,
saludos

  • Great 
  • zulfu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 597 W: 0 N: 117] (667)
  • [2008-08-30 6:34]

Hello Gert an another wonderful and perfect bird shot. Perfect details. TFS and regards,
Mehmet

Nice shot and very informative notes.

Larry

Hi Gert,

Great shot.Beautiful photo with good composition and sharpness.I liked very much.

Hallo Gert,
Erg mooie opname van deze Kokmeeuw. Vooral het lage standpunt en de fantastische achtergrond zijn opvallend. Goede natuurlijke kleuren en scherpte. Mooie compositie.
Groet,
Peter

Hello Gert, a lovely capture of this beautiful Gull.
TFS and Greetings, Bahadır

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2130 W: 9 N: 5959] (22526)
  • [2008-08-30 11:21]

Hi Gert. A good picture of this Black Headed Gull. , with a nice side view. You have good detail and colours. with good use of the light in the BG. well done TFS. good notes too.
Nick..

  • Great 
  • siggi Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 467 W: 11 N: 1322] (4632)
  • [2008-08-30 11:55]

Hi Gert,
Excellent capture of that gull.Very interesting POV and very sharp image.I like the pose of your subject.Light is also good.
Regards Siggi

Hi Big Bro Gert, Wonderful and lovely shot of this beauty with great details on its plumage. Great colours and composition too. Many thanks for sharing this beauty and have a nice sunday!
Cheers,

Bayram

Mooi met die achterground, Gert.
Het licht zat ook goed; waarschijnlijk 's avonds of 's morgens?
Bedankt
Annick

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1299 W: 0 N: 5081] (15140)
  • [2008-08-30 23:50]

Hi Gert

ANother excellent shot of a black-headed gull. Really nice detail and excellent colours.

James

Ciao Gert, great capture of lovely bird in good pose with fine details and splendid sharpness, very well done, ciao Silvio

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