Oklahoma Migratory Species Profile: Franklin's Gull

Presently on the move through the Plains States, Franklin's Gull has smaller black tips on the primaries than other look-alike gulls.  Note the whitish hindneck and the dark half-hood, which is more extensive than the Laughing Gull on a first winter bird, along with a clean white underwing.  A second winter bird could have a little more wingbar black than an adult.  Its call is also less penetrating than the Laughing Gull.

Commonly referred to as a bird of the prairies, the Prairie Dove will often follow field plowing operations to snatch mice, insects and worms.



                          Franklin's Gull
                            Audubon.org

These omnivores are migratory breeders in central Canada to our northern states, wintering in western South America and the Caribbean.  They are uncommon coastal birds in the US, breeding in colonies near prairie lakes, wetlands, or sloughs on the ground or floating in the water.  If they choose to build a floating nest, it gradually sinks due to penetration of water and must have fresh material added daily.  Older birds will also add to it while parents are still breeding.

Populations will fluctuate with rainfall and drought, so since marsh conditions can change yearly, thus will the breeding birds.

Named after Sir John Franklin, an explorer of the Arctic, this neotropical migrants was first called the Franklin's rosy gull, after its colorful belly and breast.  Early area settlers in the prairie states called it the prairie dove.

It is expected that climate change will also affect this gull, sending its breeding colonies north toward the Hudson Bay of Canada, and possibly out of the US altogether.

Oklahoma Vagrants: Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull is a small, tern-like gull that nests on inland tundra ponds, lakes or rivers.  It can easily be confused with a juvenile Kittiwake.  Its normal breeding area is along coastal Alaska and the High Arctic Boreal Forest coastal waterways.  This migratory bird has a normal migratory pattern of Atlantic and Pacific waterway flight, guided by wind.  Rarely in the company of other gulls, it will remain solitary or among a handful of its own species.





                              Sabine's Gull
       Great Salt Plains NWR by Joe Grzybowski
                                   100618

This small gull has pointed long, thin wings and a black bill with a yellow tip, and is very graceful in flight.  Known as the fork-tailed gull, this unusual gull breeds in higher latitudes, but winters near the tropics.  It is somewhat normal that young birds go astray in the fall during migration via reverse migration.  Due to confusion, they sometimes head back toward their birthplace and arrive inland, which has happened several times in Oklahoma.  Fall migration usually peaks from late August to mid-September.

These birds are somewhat susceptible to pollution during the winter, as well as during fall migration.  They will remain mostly at sea only a few miles off shore near the continental shelf.  The largest concentrations are found in winter with the usual upswells of cold water coastlines near the Equator.

These Pacific gulls will winter off the coast of  western South America in the Humboldt Current, while the Atlantic birds winter off southwest Africa.  Odd storms have much to due with the location of a few occasional strays and their distribution.  It has been under conjecture that since these birds are observed often enough inland, that they have a cross-continental migration, but for all practical purposes this natural "drift" affects more young birds than adults.

They make high pitched, somewhat grating calls, which also draws one's attention to them, but as indicated, their physical attributes are the most noteworthy.  The juvenile is brown across the head, neck, and back with a distinct white face.

The name was given the bird to honor the Irish scientist, Sir Edward Sabine by his brother, whom a specimen was sent to in 1818.

Oklahoma Vagrants: Lesser Black-backed Gull

This rare but increasing winter resident from Europe tends to come to Oklahoma on practically a yearly basis.  First noticed in 2008 at Boomer Lake Park in Stillwater, this gull comes to Oklahoma frequently in winter, as well as other parts of the state, including Lake Hefner, Lake Yahola, Keystone Dam, and other areas including the Panhandle.  It usually mixes in among the Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, usually noted for its larger size, smudged dark spot around the eye, and pale yellow juvenile legs.

They are usually found all over the Atlantic coast in winter, then gradually lessen as they get to inland areas of the US.  It looks similar to the Herring Gull, but is a little smaller and the bill shape also helps to give away its identity.

                                                          Lesser Black-backed Gull
                                                           Boomer Lake Park, 2016

It is suspected that these birds come from Greenland or Iceland, where the latter has had older colonies.  As of 2007, two different birds paired with two Herring Gulls to become nesting birds in the States, which was in Maine and Alaska.  It first arrived in the US in 1934.

The call is a deeper laugh than the Herring Gull. which also helps to draw attention to it.  Young birds have scaly dark brown feathers with black primaries, a neat pattern on the wings, and takes four years to mature.  They are also omnivores, like most other gulls, and will join other species at a local dump, or eat invertebrates and fish at bodies of water.  They are also kleptoparasites.

Valentine's Day Present From the Birds on Galveston Bay via Rockport, TX

                                                                American White Pelican

                                                                      Laughing Gulls

                                                                      Brown Pelican

                                                                         Osprey

                                                            American Oystercatcher

                                                                     Common Loon


02-15-16 afternoon/partly cloudy/warm/15 mph winds

Having grown up both in and around salt water, I was at home both in and around the bay.
Nothing pleases me more than to be birdwatching, but this was an added bonus.  Feeling like I
was part of a more serious cast of Gilligan's Island, I could not have asked for more than this wonderful afternoon.

This was the closest that I was able to get to the Osprey, American Oystercatcher(most ironically on
a bed of oyster shells), and the Common Loon.  There was also a band of several dolphins, but the best photo that I could get was a dorsal fin, so I deliberately omitted that shot.  We were surrounded by both Brown and American Pelicans, Neotropic and Double-crested Cormorants, a few different species of gulls, Great Blue Herons, Great Egret, the Reddish Egret, shore birds, Whooping Cranes in the distance, and many more birds attracted to the water.  There was even a small island rookery for
breeding herons and egrets that was occupied by close to a dozen birds when we passed by it.

Thanks to Captain Tommy Moore on the Skimmer for providing a wonderful cruise on Galveston Bay.  It was wonderful to obtain the photos that I did for my first time on a moving tour boat.  It was an experience that I will not soon forget.

For your birding adventures in the Rockport Texas area, call and book with Capt. Tommy Moore, also author of The Lobstick Prince, a Whooping Crane Story at 877-TX-BIRDS.  You'll not regret this adventure.  The book can be purchased through amazon.com via http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0557179076?keywords=birding%20with%20Capt.%20Tommy&qid=1456240104&ref_=sr_1_fkmr0_2&s=books&sr=1-2-fkmr0