Gull ID

Knowing how to "age" our gulls is critical to learning how to identify them. Be sure to check out the Gull Ageing page too!

Small Gulls

Ivory Gull

Our only "whiter than snow" gull - they can fly like white jaegers made of air. Perhaps most similar structurally to Black-legged Kittiwake, the only real identification challenge is leucitic/white aberrant individuals of other gull species. Locally, white Bonaparte's Gulls are the most frequent culprit.

Loves standing on Ice. Usually very tame.
Peak of records from Dec 10 - Jan 10. Has been recorded November through mid-April.
Adults bright white. Black legs, blue bill with orange-yellow tip.
Juveniles similar but with variable black fleck markings throughout. Very lightly marked juveniles could be mistaken for an adult at a distance.
Leucistic Bonaparte's Gull on left (below), Ivory Gull(s) on right.

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Small "M" Gulls

Black-legged Kittiwake

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Sabine's Gull

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Ross's Gull

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Little Gull

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Bonaparte's Gull

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Black-headed Gull

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Hooded Gulls

Franklin's Gull

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Laughing Gull

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Large White-headed Gulls

Heermann's Gull

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Black-tailed Gull

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Ring-billed /Mew / Common / Kamchatka

Kamchatka Gull

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Common Gull

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Mew (Short-billed) Gull

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Ring-billed Gull

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Two causes of Pink in Ring-billed Gulls (2024):

Every spring and summer, people watching gulls on Lake Michigan will see pink ring-billed gulls. There is some confusion about what causes this color, whether it is from carotenoids in diet, or staining. As I started looking into this question, I found it very likely that both factors are at play. Here I will outline the evidence I found for each cause and how you might be able to tell them apart, at least some of the time.

Large Gulls

California Gull

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Herring (Sea) Gull

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North American Herring Gull "Populations"

Regional gull aficionados have long discussed the differences between our local - "Great Lakes" nesting Herring Gulls and those arriving in fall from "the north". Some of the basic differences are highlighted below. If you're really interested in a more detailed breakdown of the subject, we've created a separate photo-heavy page here, including other potential populations to occur locally - the "Atlantic" and "Pacific Northwest" birds.