• Welcome to Focus on Photography

    Focus on Photography is a friendly photography forum for sharing images and discussing photography.
    Come join our growing community. The site is free and there are no ads. We hope to see you on the board!

Gulls and Terns

Jack Dawe

Active member
Joined
11 January 2025
Posts
486
Likes
2,037
Image Editing
  1. Yes
Mediterranean Gull
3.jpg
 
A gull I've never seen. He's pretty. Has the same kind of build as a black-headed gull. Bill is bigger though.
 
A gull I've never seen. He's pretty. Has the same kind of build as a black-headed gull. Bill is bigger though.
Yes, bill is thicker and redder. Also the grey looks cleaner, more 'silvery', in comparison. To my mind there is no smarter gull, especially when they have their jet-black heads in breeding plumage.
1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yes, bill is thicker and redder. Also the grey looks cleaner, more 'silvery', in comparison. To my mind there is no smarter gull, especially when they have their jet-black heads in breeding plumage.
View attachment 1054
Hold on. I did see them! Right here, in the city. I was confused by the name "Mediterranean gull"! In Dutch this bird is called Black-headed gull (zwartkopmeeuw) whereas what in English is called a black-headed gull, in Dutch is known as kokmeeuw (I wouldn't know what the English equivalent of "kok" is). It's confusing!

And I agree, they are beautiful in their breeding plumage. Elegant and beautiful.
 
I thought it was a black-headed gull (kokmeeuw). He looks just like it! How can you tell the difference?
 
I thought it was a black-headed gull (kokmeeuw). He looks just like it! How can you tell the difference?
Apart from the brighter, thicker bill (which looks droop-tipped), in winter plumage the Mediterranean Gull has a smudge behind the eye rather than the Black-headed Gull's spot. In breeding plumage Black-headed Gull has a chocolate-brown head, but Mediterranean Gull's head is genuinely black and that black reaches further down the hindneck. Also the adult Mediterranean Gull has pure white wing tips without any black. Mediterranean Gull's wing-tips are less pointed too.
 
Silver (or Red-billed) Gull, often to be seen helping the Australian cricket team when they're playing at home.
Red-billed Gull.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom