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10

Slender-billed Gull (Chroicocephalus genei) Size: 37-42 cm; wing span 90-102 cm

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Slender-billed Gulls are medium-sized white-headed gulls. They take two years to reach maturity, so there are three phases of plumage (the differences between breeding and eclipse plumage are small). Adult Slender-billed Gulls have a white head, with subtle grey markings around the eyes, neck and front. The front can have a pinkish tinge. The upperwings are light-grey, with black-tipped outer primaries, of which the outer 4 feathers are white. The outermost primary has a narrow black leading edge. The tail is white. The irises are grey. As their name suggests, they have an untypically slender bill. During the breeding season that bill is black. In eclipse the bill is blackish-tinged dark-red. First-winter birds roughly resemble adults, but with a scalloped pattern on the wing coverts and with grey spots behing the ears. The bill is pinkish-red with a small black tip. The legs and feet are pale-orange. Juveniles resemble first-winter Slender-billed Gulls, but with a bolder scalloped pattern on the upperwings.

Taxonomy, classification See Slender-billed Gull at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Slender-billed Gull is available HERE . Slender-billed Gulls populate mostly the northern part of the western Indian Ocean, from the Indian coastline via Pakistan and Iran around the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. There is also a population in the Mediterranean. Their movements are regionally migratory. In Europe they appear to be expanding their range northwards from the Mediterranean into central Europe. In Arabia, Slender-billed Gulls are mostly found as winter visitors all along the coastline, including the coast of Oman. Some birds, likely non-breeders, may also spend the summer in the region. A breeding population is found in the lower parts of the Euphrates/Tigris river downs in Iraq and Kuwait. Slender-billed Gulls breed on the edges of wetlands, not only in coastal areas, but also around inland lakes and marshes. Outside the breeding season they are found primarily in coastal, i.e. salt water, habitats, such as beaches and estuaries, including mudflats.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Slender-billed Gulls were first spotted by us at Al Qurm Natural Park near Muscat, Oman, in December 2009, where a small colony was found in an estuary.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Colony of Slender-billed Gulls with various plumages - some birds have black bills (breeding adult); others have dark-red bills (non-breeding adult) and yet others have pinkish-red bills and small grey spots behind their ears (immature); click on image for full field-of-view
[Al Qurm, December 2009]

A very distant photo of a Slender-billed Gull in breeding plumage was obtained in Europe.

NON-BREEDING

Adult Slender-billed Gull in non-breeding plumage in flight; note the dark-red bill and the bright-red legs and feet
[Al Qurm, December 2009]

Adult Slender-billed Gull in non-breeding plumage in flight
[Al Qurm, December 2009]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of an immature, probably first-winter Slender-billed Gull; note the pink bill
[Al Qurm, December 2009]

Lateral view of the same immature, Slender-billed Gull as above; here one can see the small black tip of the bill
[Al Qurm, December 2009]

Food, Diet

Like all gulls, Slender-billed Gulls are opportunistic. They will feed on anything from carrion and discarded entrails to fish, chicks of other bird species and eggs; they also scrape mud or sand in search of prey and will take insects in flight.

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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