Little Gull Larus minutus

(last update: March 02, 2015)

Little Gull minutus, 1st cycle (2CY), May 24 2014, Manitowoc, WI. Picture: Amar Ayyash.

Plesae visit Amar's blog on Anything Larus, for more gulls.

Little Gull along the Lake Michigan shoreline in east-central Wisconsin. Lakefront cities such as Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Two Rivers usually harbor one or two summering individuals. Most of these birds are 1st summer individuals, lingering back with the small flocks of sub-adult, non-breeding, Bonaparte's Gulls. For the last 3 years or so, this species has been rebounding on the WI lakefront.

This bird below has a full hood, more tan average on first cycle Little Gull. A small percentage of 1-year old birds do show adult-like hoods in their first alternate plumage. A fiesty bird, this one was relatively big and did not take being pushed around by the surrounding Bonaparte's. It was very skilled at fishing, and gulped down 3-4 shad in the few hours.