Ring-billed Gull in flight

The Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis, is a common, social gull about the size of a crow.  It does have interesting features, including white-grey wings with black wing tips, a yellow bill with a ring around it, a pale-yellowish eye and a slender wingspan around 45 inches. 

They are masters of their wings in that they perform aerobatic maneuvers and hovering when hunting for their food. Breeding adults have a white head, while non-breeding adults have some tan streaking on the head or neck (as does the one in this photograph). Two-year olds and younger have progressively more brown streaking and spots. 

This bird is an opportunistic omnivore and typically migrates south in the winter.

Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge.

(c) Kelly Shipp