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MarineScrapeLarge · 639 g
ID tip
Belcher's gull is 48–54 centimetres (19–21 in), with a wingspan of about 120 cm (47 in). The sexes are similar in appearance, and in the breeding season, the adult has a white head, very pale grey neck, and white underparts. The mantle and back are greyish-black, and the tail is white with a broad black subterminal band and a white trailing edge. The wing coverts and primaries are black and the secondaries dark grey with white tips. The eye is black, the bill yellow with a distinctive red and black tip, and the legs and feet yellow.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Belcher's Gull
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Belcher's Gull
The map shades 3 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Colombia.
About the Belcher's Gull
Belcher's gull, also known as the band-tailed gull, is a bird in the family Laridae found along the Pacific coast of South America. It formerly included the very similar Olrog's gull as a subspecies, but that bird occurs on the Atlantic coast of South America and is now accepted as a separate species Larus atlanticus. Belcher's gull is a medium-sized gull with a blackish mantle, white head and underparts, a black band on the otherwise white tail, and a yellow bill with a red and black tip. Non-breeding adults have a brownish-black head and a white eye-ring. The name commemorates the British explorer Sir Edward Belcher, who performed survey work on the Pacific coast of South America.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Armenian GullLarus armenicusThe Armenian gull is a fairly large gull species, though it is on average the smallest of the "herring gull" complex.
Slaty-backed GullLarus schistisagusIt is tied with the yellow-footed gull for fourth-largest gull species, measuring 55–68.5 cm (21.7–27.0 in) in length, 132–160 cm (52–63 in) in wingspan, and 1.05–1.7 kg (2.3–3.7 lb) in weight.
Yellow-footed GullLarus livensAdults are similar in appearance to the western gull with a white head, dark, slate-colored back and wings, and a thick yellow bill.
Side by side: Belcher's Gull vs Pacific Gull · Belcher's Gull vs Black-tailed Gull · Armenian Gull vs Belcher's Gull · Belcher's Gull vs Inca Tern · Belcher's Gull vs Slaty-backed Gull · Belcher's Gull vs Yellow-footed Gull · Belcher's Gull vs Vega Gull
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