Ring-Billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

County List:

Rule:

Forested or Nonforested Landscapes

Nesting and Foraging Habitat Requirements may be distributed across the NEIGHBORHOOD

Nesting Habitat:
      (Lake or River)
   adjacent to:
      Shorelines/Mudflats 

Foraging Habitat 1st alternative:
      (Lake or River or Sewage Lagoons & Farm Ponds)
   adjacent to:
      Shorelines/Mudflats

Foraging Habitat 2nd alternative:
      Any Cropland

Habitat List:

view size class definitions

Literature:

Habitat: Ring-billed Gulls have remarkable capacity to adapt to different island habitats. These habitats range from bare islands, where the substrate is broken slabs of limestone, to edges of deep woods where the gulls often encroach, killing the woody vegetation with fecal whitewash. They then move into the newly opened areas.

Non-breeding Ring-billed Gulls are seen in summer over most of Michigan. Ring-billed Gulls have adapted quickly to human-altered habitats including limestone mining and cement-producing operations, power plants around the Great Lakes, and spoil islands created by dredging.

Able to exploit fishery resources when such species as alewives and smelt are prevalent, ring-bills are far more generalist feeders than most of their competitors. This is the species that follows the plow, feeding on worms, grubs, beetle larvae, and mice. This opportunism also brings ring-bills to urban areas where they appear at malls, fast food restaurants, and virtually any place food is available.

Habitat: Breeding: Lakes and rivers, open beaches, mudflats, and harbors. Wintering: near salt water.

Habitat: Lakes, bays, coasts, piers, dumps, plowed fields. Associated with water at all seasons, although it does much of its feeding on land. Favors fresh water as much as salt water, but often common along coast, especially at harbors and estuaries; rarely any distance offshore. Common around cities, docks, farm fields, landfills, other human-altered habitats.

Diet: Omnivorous. Diet varies with location and season, but major items include insects, fish, earthworms, grain, rodents, and refuse. Forages in freshly plowed fields for grubs and earthworms.

Nest: Site is on ground near water in area with sparse plant growth. Nest is shallow cup of grasses, twigs, moss.