Day 7 – Black-headed Gull

Day 7! A whole week’s worth of daily posts. Getting easier to remember to do it but I suspect it will get harder to think what to write about; guess that’s the challenge really. It’s all for me really, all about me actually writing things down so I can discipline myself to write regularly, and you get to read it if you want. Today’s species is one I saw today on my birding ‘patch’ – basically a local area you visit often an gradually you see changes, learn what’s regularly there and when, and what’s a rarity. I find it more rewarding than going further afield to be honest, you get to know your local area.

What: Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766)

When: 7th January 2020

Where: Poynton Pool, Cheshire, UK

Who saw it? Me

Where was the record submitted? To eBird https://ebird.org/home (110 individuals recorded)

Is it larger than a blackbird? Yes

What is it? A small member of the gull family. A common species inland during the UK winter, not as ubiquitous during the summer where they tend to head to the coastal areas and large inland wetland sites to breed. Very noisy when gathered in their breeding sites with a raucous screaming caw type call, not like the “sound of the seaside” herring gull call at all; their latin species name ridibundus means laughing, after their call. Their head, whilst dark in spring and summer is mostly white with one or two black vertical streaks on the sides. The ‘black’ head in the breeding season is actually dark brown. An inaccurate English name.

A fact I have learned about this species: Whilst not declining as much as some other gull species in the UK, they do appear to be contracting their range slightly in the winter, particularly in the north and west of the British Isles (Balmer et al, 2013)

Is the species charismatic in my opinion? Yes I think. Anything that is this raucous is definitely charismatic. Although on a windy day like today they were very subdued. They don’t get the bad publicity that larger gulls get and tend to go under the radar of the public conscious I think despite how common they are at this time of year.