Larus
pipixcan
(Franklin's Gull)
Physical
Description:
13 1/2-14 1/2" (34-39
cm). In summer, the head is black with a conspicuous broken white eye-ring and
red, slender bill, and the breast has a rosy bloom. Back gray; wings gray, ending
in a white band and then black tips. Usually have black legs, but sometimes
red feet. Immatures are brownish-gray above and white below, with black tail
band, and hooded appearance.
Similar Species- Laughing Gull
Song:
A shrill, laughing kuk-kuk-kuk;
also mewing cries.
Distribution:
Breeds from Canadian Prairie
Provinces, south to east-central Oregon, southern Idaho, northwestern Utah,
northwestern Wyoming, northeastern South Dakota, and northwestern Indiana. Nonbreeders
occur in summer from east-central British Columbia and northeastern Manitoba,
south to northern New Mexico, southeastern Wyoming, Kansas, central Indiana,
and Great Lakes. Winters primarily in South America, and casually along coastal
Texas and Louisiana.
Diet:
Feeds primarily on insects. Also eats
aquatic insects and small fishes in small ponds and sloughs.
Ecology:
Builds floating nest anchored to platform
of dead reeds. Forms large colonies (up to 15,000-20,000 individuals); largest
colony in Idaho is at Gray's Lake National Wildlife Refuge with an estimated
5,000-6,000 nests. Breeders will desert nests if disturbed. Individuals catch
prey in air and follow farmers' plows to feed on unearthed insects and their
larvae.
2-3 eggs for about 18-20
days. Nestlings are semi-precocial. Young are tended by both
adults.
Conservation:
| Element Code: | ABNNM03020 |
| Status: | Protected nongame species |
| Global Rank: | G5 |
| State Rank: | S2 |
| National Rank: | N4B,NZN |
Important
State References:
Trost, C.H. and A. Gerstell. 1994. Status
and distribution of colonial nesting waterbirds in southern Idaho, 1993. Dept.
Biol. Sciences, Idaho St. Univ., Pocatello. 74pp.