Background
In May 2007, a Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) was observed at a nest with a Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) on Appledore Island, Maine. This record represents the second observation of breeding by a Lesser Black-backed Gull in North America (outside of Greenland) and the first record for the Atlantic coast of North America (Ellis et al. 2008).
- Herring Gull at nest; Lesser Black-backed Gull approaching nest; May 2007 (Photo by David Brown)
On 22 June 2007, two chicks were observed at the nest; both survived until late July when one was killed by another gull. The surviving chick was banded (see photo below), and appeared to fledge successfully.
- Surviving chick in July 2007: note federal band on right leg and plastic, field-readable green band on left (photo by David Brown)
The Lesser and Herring gull pair were banded at the nest in Spring 2008 and both returned to nest again in 2009. We were able to observe the pair copulating, which confirmed that the Lesser Black-backed Gull is the male in the pair. We banded their chicks in 2008 and 2009. Genetic tests, which are pending, will tell us whether the Lesser is the genetic father of the chicks (it’s possible that the Lesser is just the “social” parent and that the Herring Gull also mated with a Herring Gull).
- Lesser Black-backed Gull with one of its chicks on Appledore Island, June 2007 (photo by David Brown)
Summary of bands used on Lesser Black-backed gull and “family”
All birds have one metal (federal) band on the right leg and a field-readable plastic band on the left leg. All the plastic bands are GREEN with WHITE lettering and a 3-digit alphanumeric code (letter_number_number).
Year: Individual, Federal Band, Plastic Band:
- 2007: Chick, 1767-09164, N02
- 2008: LBBG, 1086-09207, F05
- 2008: HERG, 1767-09201, F01
- 2008: Chick 1, 1767-09207, F02
- 2008: Chick 2, 1767-09206, F03
- 2009: Chick 1, 1166-00001, F04
- 2009: Chick 2, 1166-00002, F06
The Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen and photographed on January 21, 2009 in Florida! The original description of the observation is below:
Subject: Thayer’s, Kumlien’s, Franklin’s, Possible Yellow-legged Gull.
Daytona Beach Shores. Volusia Co.
From: Michael Brothers
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:23:17 -0500
What a day! Today, 1/21, Alvaro Jaramillo, Bob Wallace and I led a field trip for the Space Coast Birding festival to the Tomoka Landfill, Daytona Beach,Volusia County. The birds were difficult to see, but we did find Thayer’s and Kumlien’s Gulls. Later, we took most of the group to Daytona Beach Shores for the evening fly-in. We were not disappointed. First, we found a banded adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Alvaro did some research this evening and it turns out that this bird was banded on an island off of New Hampshire and is the second known breeding Lesser Black-backed Gull found in North America outside of Greenland. A celebrity bird on our beach!
- A photo of the LBBG at Daytona Beach Shores, Florida. (Photo by Michael Brothers)
History of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in North America
The Lesser Black-backed Gull breeds primarily in northern and western Europe, but has undergone considerable range expansion during the past century (Post and Lewis 1995). The first record of a Lesser Black-backed Gull in North America (outside of Greenland) was in coastal New Jersey in 1934 (Edwards 1935). Records of this species in North America increased slowly from 1950 through the mid-1970s, then increased substantially thereafter. By 1994, this species had been reported in all 31 states in the eastern half of the US except for West Virginia (Post and Lewis 1995).
Most observations of Lesser Black-backed Gulls along the Atlantic coast of North America occur from October through April, but increasingly the species is observed between May and September. Wintering birds may come from Greenland or Iceland, where breeding populations of Lesser Black-backed Gulls have been increasing (Cramp and Simmons 1983; Boertmann 2008).
The only other record of a breeding Lesser Black-backed Gull is from Juneau, Alaska on 12 June 1993 (vanVliet et al. 1993). A Lesser Black-backed Gull was observed with a Herring Gull at a nest with two eggs in the middle of a small mixed colony of Herring gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens). That nesting was apparently not successful; the authors visited the site six weeks after the initial observation and found egg shell fragments and dried egg shell membranes near the nest, along with both members of the pair. They did not locate any evidence of juvenile birds at or near the nest.
Putative hybrids between Herring and Lesser Black-backed gulls have been observed in some eastern states, including North Carolina, Connecticut (www.fordham.edu/lewis/birds/comhyb/herxles.html), and New York (www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/lbbgull_hybrid.htm). These observations, combined with records of large numbers of wintering Lessers and observations of juvenile-plumaged birds, suggest that there may be breeding populations in North America that have yet to be discovered.
References
Boertmann, D 2008. The Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, in Greenland. Arctic 61:129-133.
Ellis, JC, MC Stoddard, LW Clark. 2008. Breeding by a Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) on the Atlantic coast of North America. North American Birds 61:546-548.
Post, PW, RH Lewis 1995. The Lesser Black-backed Gull in the Americas: occurrence and subspecific identity. Birding 27:282-290, 370-380.
Edwards, JL 1935. The Lesser Black-backed Gull in New Jersey Auk 52:85.
Cramp, S, KEL Simmons (eds) 1983. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 3. Oxford University Press, New York
vanVliet, GB, D Marshall, D Craig, J Egolf 1993. First record of nesting activity by a Lesser Black-blacked Gull (Larus fuscus) in North America. Bulletin of the Pacific Seabirds Group 20:21.
Acknowledgements
Our work in has been conducted with a great deal of logistical support from the director and staff of the Shoals Marine Laboratory (http://www.sml.cornell.edu/). We are also grateful to David Brown, Marc Dantzker, and Ian Fein from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for video and audio footage of the pair. Steve Bogdanowicz (Cornell Univ) is contributing substantially to this project by conducting all of the genetic analyses. Ellis is sub-permitted to band gulls through Sara Morris (Canisius College), and has IACUC approval for gull capture and banding through Tufts University. We also greatly benefited from discussions about the history of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in North America with Bill Etter (esbittern “at” verizon.net).
