Alternative name: Band-tailed Gull
- Larus belcheri
Identification
45–54 cm (17¾-21¼ in)
Adult breeding
- White head, neck, breast, sides and belly
- Sooty black mantle and wings; in flight shows white tips to secondaries
- Broad black subterminal band on white tail
- White uppertail coverts
- Long bright yellow bill tipped red (different field guides differ in whether black is found proximally of the red in adult or only in subadult)
- Long bright yellow legs and feet
- Eye is dark in all ages
Adult non-breeding
- Head shows a blackish hood, neck is pale grey, and bill is yellow with red tip and black subterminally
Younger birds
- All ages have darker head than neck (except third summer, which is very similar to adult summer but with sub-terminal black ring on bill). Mostly brown and grey with darker band on tail. Three to four years before full breeding plumage.
Similar species
Adult breeding and subadult summer are similar to Kelp Gull which has heavier bill (less bright yellow) with yellow at the very tip (red in Belcher's Gull) and overall a larger, chunkier species. Dolphin Gull is unlikely to overlap in range, and adult/subadult birds have red bill and legs while lacking black tail band, but overall similar pattern of hood in winter lacking in summer.
Distribution
Humboldt Current of Peru and northern Chile; disperses to more southern areas in Chile and northwards to Ecuador and less commonly Colombia.
vagrant to Panama, most often in el nino years.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Olrog's Gull, the Atlantic counterpart of this species, has in the past been considered a subspecies of Belcher's Gull.
Habitat
Almost entirely coastal, on rocky shores and guano islands.
Behaviour
Diet
They eat fish, crabs and other shellfish, and will also scavenge for carrion.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
1st year, 2nd year and 2nd alternate
Photo © by WilsonDiaz
Pucusana, Lima, Peru, December 2015
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
- Alvaro Jaramillo. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton Field Guides. ISBN 0-691-11740-3
- Ridgely & Gwynne 1989. Birds of Panama. Princeton Paperbacks. ISBN 0691025126
- Arthur Grosset
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Belcher's Gull. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Belcher%27s_Gull
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
