Little Gull

Little Gull
	Adult little gull ( Hydrocoloeus minutus ) ; in breeding plumage.
Systematics
Class :	Birds (aves)
Order :	Plover-like (Charadriiformes)
Family :	Laridae
Subfamily :	Seagulls (larinae)
Genre :	Hydrocoloeus
Type :	Little Gull
Scientific name of the genus
	Hydrocoloeus
	Kaup , 1829
Scientific name of the species
	Hydrocoloeus minutus
	( Pallas , 1776)

Adult bird in flight. A black hand-wing pattern is missing, the underside of the wing is dark.

Little gull in youthful dress

Little gull in the first winter

Resting little gulls

Little gulls overwinter in the open sea. Here an adult bird in a simple dress.

Distribution of the Little Gull:

Breeding areas

Wintering areas

Forays (uncertain seasonality)

The little gull ( Hydrocoloeus minutus , Syn . : Larus minutus ) is the smallest species of gulls . The highly fragmented breeding area extends from Scandinavia and the southern North Sea through Eastern Europe to the West Siberian lowlands , where the species is primarily distributed, and as far as Transbaikalia . In the Nearctic , it was able to establish a small population in the Great Lakes area and north of it since the 1960s .

While the little gull breeds in inland lakes and swamps, where it often joins colonies of terns or black-headed gulls , it can be found outside the breeding season in the open sea. The main wintering areas range from the Baltic Sea westward to the Atlantic , southward to northwest Africa and across the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea . The species can occur in many places on the coast and in inland waters. During the breeding season it feeds mainly on insects , in the winter half of the year it feeds on fish and other marine animals.

description

With a body length of 25–27 cm and a wingspan of 75–80 cm, the little gull is the smallest gull and about a third smaller than a black-headed gull. The weight is between 82 and 127 g in adult males, between 68 and 113 g in females and between 66 and 121 g in annual birds. The sexes cannot be distinguished from the plumage. Young little gulls are colored after two years, i.e. in the third calendar year. The species is monotypical .

In flight, the little gull is reminiscent of a tern of the genus Chlidonias or a nightjar . It often flies with lively flaps of its wings in a partly tumbling, partly hopping search flight relatively close to the water surface. In adult birds the wing tip appears rounded, in birds in the first year of life it is pointed. The seated bird often looks smaller than it is due to its short legs. The relatively large head is very rounded, the beak, black in all clothes, is short and narrow, which gives the species a "cute" appearance.

In the magnificent dress , the head and neck are black. The back and top of the wings are light gray, the rest of the trunk and tail are white. The underside can have a soft pink tint. The wings are light gray on top, black gray on the underside and show a narrow white end band. The beak is dark reddish brown and appears black from a distance. The iris is dark, the legs are dull red.

In the plain dress , the head is predominantly white and shows only a black ear mark and a blackish top of the head. The beak is black, the legs are pale pink.

In the youth dress , the head pattern corresponds to the plain dress with a dark parting and dark ear covers, but it is often more extensive and brownish. The neck, sides of the neck and front back are also black, whereby the back color runs in a wedge shape to the rear of the otherwise white back and the neck band can reach washed out to the sides of the chest. The black-brown shoulder and umbrella feathers show whitish hems, which make the rear part of the top look cross-banded. The two upper wings, visually connected by the back pattern, show a black W-shaped drawing on a light gray background, which is formed by the dark arm cover field and the predominantly black outer hand wing. The lower wing is white with dark tips and outer flags on the outer hand wings. The arm wings are dark with light edges and tips and form an interrupted dark, subterminal band. The rump and tail-coverts are white, as is most of the underside. The tail, which is also white, has a black end band. The bill and orbital ring are black, the legs greyish pink.

voice

The calls of the little gull (audio sample) are bright, often a little nasal and are reminiscent of those of the black tern . The Hauptruf is a muted, short ke or kie , often two syllables and a little louder than long, varying Rufreihe will be carried forward, which is about ki-ki-ki ki ki ... or tikä tikä tikä ... can be. Alarm calls are often a little deeper and can be reminiscent of jackdaw calls. If there is danger from enemies on the ground, a high ki-uh or kli-uh can be heard, while the attack call is hard and rasping.

distribution

The disjoint breeding area of the little gull extends from Central Europe, where the occurrences are dispersed and unstable, in three larger sub-areas eastward through the Palearctic. They are interrupted by the Urals and the Central Siberian mountains . In addition, the species breeds in the Nearctic in the Great Lakes area and north of it.

Breeding occurrences in Central Europe are very scattered and are usually quite unstable. Since the species hovers over the summer in large numbers in many places, there are repeated attempts at breeding and new settlements. The species breeds in smaller numbers in south-east Sweden and Denmark, since the 1980s in the Netherlands and Germany, and since the 1990s in Norway. There were breeding attempts in England.

The first of three closed subareas begins in northeastern Sweden and northeastern Poland and extends over central and southern Finland, the Baltic States , Russia and Belarus eastward to the Urals. The northern border in Russia runs from Lake Ladoga via Northern Dvina and Kama to the Urals. The southern border runs roughly at the level of Moscow and a little south of it, with scattered deposits reaching as far as the Sea of Azov .

The main area of distribution is in the West Siberian lowlands , where the northern border runs at around 64 ° N through the marsh zone of the taiga , the southern border at around 48 ° N through the desert steppe in Kazakhstan. Oversummer can sometimes be found further north in the forest tundra in the south of the Taimyr peninsula .

Another sub-area can be found in the south of the Central Yakut Lowlands and east of Lake Baikal . There are also scattered occurrences further east to Transbaikalia, where so far only breeding has been suspected.

The species has also been breeding in the Nearctic since at least 1962, where 67 broods were recorded in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River area , in southern Minnesota and in the lowlands of Hudson Bay and James Bay until 1989 . In the 1990s there was no evidence of breeding. The number of overwinterers suggests a constant breeding occurrence.

habitat

The Little Gull breeds primarily in eutrophic shallow lakes, more rarely, to deeper, meso or oligotrophic waters, fishing ponds, oxbow lakes , damp river bends or in meadows. Brackish swamps are also assumed in Central Europe and on Hudson Bay . In Finland there was a breeding site in a strand bog .

Important for colony locations are open water areas at least at the beginning of the breeding season, bank structures or islets that are difficult to access for soil enemies and swimming or bank vegetation suitable as a nest location, which can consist of crayfish claws , water swaths , cattails , rushes , rush edges or halophytes , for example. The species always joins colonies of black-headed gulls or terns.

In the winter quarters the little gull lives mainly semi-pelagic in shelf seas rich in plankton and fish . It partly sleeps on the open sea and is rarely found near the coast. In the Nearctic, however, it also winters on the coast and in large inland waters. On the move, it can occur in many larger inland waters and in river landscapes.

nutrition

The little gull feeds primarily on insects during the breeding season, which it mainly prey on in flight hunts. In contrast to other gulls and terns with a similar diet, it also catches very small insects such as mosquitoes or mosquitoes that fly only a few centimeters above the surface of the water, but also larger prey animals up to large dragonflies are part of the food spectrum. The majority of them are dragonflies , caddis flies and mosquitoes. Water bugs , aquatic species of beetles, dragonflies or mosquito larvae are more rarely caught in the water. Especially on the train and at times when there are fewer insects, the food spectrum is supplemented by small fish, worms, molluscs and other things. But these usually only make up a small part. On the southern edge of the Palaearctic distribution can brine shrimp play a significant role.

In the winter quarters, the species presumably feeds predominantly or exclusively on small fish that swim near the surface, such as the smelt . In the Caspian Sea, their occurrence often correlates with that of the Tyulka sardine .

Reproduction

Gelege, Museum Wiesbaden collection

The nests are built on islands or in other bank areas that are difficult to access for enemies of the soil. They are mostly surrounded by water and consist of plant material from the bank vegetation. The eggs are laid from mid-May to mid-June. The clutch consists of 1 to 3 eggs, which are darkly spotted on an olive green or brown background. They measure about 42 × 30 mm and weigh 19-20 g. The breeding season lasts 21-23 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledged after 21–24 days.

hikes

The species winters on the coasts of Western Europe, the Mediterranean area, on the Caspian Sea and in the north of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf . In mild winters, several thousand little gulls overwinter in the Dutch IJsselmeer and since the 1990s there have been regular overwintering populations of up to 1,800 individuals in Germany's coastal North Sea regions.

The North American population winters on the east coast of the USA .

Withdrawal from the breeding areas takes place from July, in Central Europe the strongest migration occurs from the end of August to the beginning of September, the last migrants are mostly observed in October, rarely also in November. The migration takes place in a broad front to the southwest to west-southwest along the coasts, but also through the European inland, where most of the evidence takes place on the migration to larger lakes. In the process, there is an increase in trains, for example on the Black Sea coast, on the Bosporus and in northern Turkey, as well as on the North Sea coast of the Netherlands and Belgium. The migration through Central Europe begins in March and reaches its peak in late April to early May, when the birds arrive at the breeding sites.

Existence and endangerment

The IUCN gives the world population for 2002 roughly with 0.57-1.7 million individuals. The species is not endangered according to the IUCN.

supporting documents

literature

Klaus Malling Olsen, Hans Larsson: Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America. Helm Identification Guides, Christopher Helm, London 2003 (corrected new edition from 2004), ISBN 978-0-7136-7087-5 , pp. 522-534.
Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim , Kurt M. Bauer: Handbook of the birds of Central Europe. Volume 8 / I: Charadriiformes. 3rd part: snipe, gull and alken birds. Aula, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-923527-00-4 , pp. 225-251.
Peter J. Ewins, DV Weseloh: Little Gull (Larus minutus) in A. Poole (Ed.): The Birds of North America Online , Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca 1999, doi : 10.2173 / bna.428
Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal (eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions 1996, ISBN 978-84-87334-20-7 , p. 619.
Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel and Wolfgang Fiedler (eds.): The compendium of birds in Central Europe: Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Volume 1: Nonpasseriformes - non-sparrow birds. Aula-Verlag Wiebelsheim, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-89104-647-2 , p. 581f.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Olsen / Larsson (2003), p. 522, see literature
↑ Glutz von Blotzheim, p. 246, see literature
↑ Olsen / Larsson (2003), p. 523 and tables (524–527), see literature
↑ Patrik Åberg: XC84025 · Little Gull · Hydrocoloeus minutus . xeno-canto.org. June 17, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
↑ ^a ^b Olsen / Larsson (2003), p. 522, see literature
↑ ^a ^b Glutz von Blotzheim, p. 230, see literature
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Bauer et al., See literature
↑ BirdLife Species Factsheet, see web links
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Glutz von Blotzheim, p. 230f, see literature
↑ Ewins / Weseloh (1999), section Distribution , see literature
↑ ^a ^b ^c Glutz von Blotzheim, p. 241f, see literature
↑ ^a ^b Ewins / Weseloh (1999), section Habitat , see literature
↑ ^a ^b Glutz von Blotzheim, pp. 246f and 249f

Web links

Hydrocoloeus minutus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed October 13 of 2008.
Little gull feathers