Little gull

Voice

Usually silent away from the breeding grounds. In flocks and at colonies it gives a high, nasal, repeated kek-kek-kek, strongly recalling a small tern, and a drawn-out kye-kye during chases. In western Europe you hear it at most from parties passing close overhead in May above an inland lake.

Identification

Tiny, with rounded wingtips, fine dark red bill and red legs. In summer the black hood reaches the nape, with no white eyelid crescents, over a pale grey mantle; the upperwing is plain grey with a broad white trailing edge and no black, the underwing sooty black. Winter birds show a dark crown and ear spot. First-years show a black W across the upperwing, black tail band and white underwing.

Confusion species

Adults are unmistakable with their black underwing and black-free wingtip, but young birds recall juvenile Kittiwake, which is larger, longer-winged and shows a black neck collar. Black-headed Gull is much bigger with a white primary wedge. A feeding Little Gull can suggest a Black Tern at distance, but has broad, blunt wings and a paler, whiter overall look.

Habitat

Breeds at shallow, marshy lakes and peat pools in northern and eastern Europe. Outside the breeding season on large inland lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and sandbanks, often over turbid water where currents concentrate food. Feeds by fluttering and dipping at the surface for insects, small crustaceans and tiny fish.

Range and movements

The European breeding range lies in Finland, the Baltic states, Belarus and Russia, with small and shifting colonies further west and only occasional nesting in the Netherlands. Passage and wintering concentrate on the IJsselmeer, the Delta and the North Sea coast. In Spain it is a scarce but annual winter visitor along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.

• Resident
• Breeding (summer)
• Winter
• Passage
• Migration direction
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Where and when to look

Late April and early May are the peak days: with north-west winds work the Afsluitdijk, the Marker Wadden or the Brouwersdam and scan low parties over the water. In November and December seawatching pays off in onshore winds, when small groups drift low over the surf line.

Conservation status

Not globally threatened, but the European population is small and its breeding sites shift with fluctuating water levels. Drainage of northern marshes, colony disturbance and oil and wind-farm development in offshore wintering areas are the main risks. In the Netherlands passage numbers vary sharply from year to year and with wind direction.