Ring-billed Gull

Larus delawarensis

The ring-billed gull is a medium-sized gull native to North America, breeding in Canada and the northern Contiguous United States, and wintering mainly in the United States and northern Mexico. The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific delawarensis refers to the Delaware River. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 34,048 times across 65 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 7°C (typically 3 to 15°C, from 33 areas). That range is wide, so temperature alone does not explain when it turns up.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in North America ranged from 43°N in March to 59°N in May, about 1,700 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.