Ross's gull

Last updated

Ross's gull
Rhodostethia rosea.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Rhodostethia
MacGillivray, 1842
Species:
R. rosea
Binomial name
Rhodostethia rosea
Rhodostethia rosea map.svg
Synonyms

Hydrocoloeus roseus

Ross's gull (Rhodostethia rosea) is a small gull, the only species in its genus, although it has been suggested it should be moved to the genus Hydrocoloeus , which otherwise only includes the little gull. This bird is named after the British explorer James Clark Ross. Its breeding grounds were first discovered in 1905 by Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin near the village of Pokhodsk in North-Eastern Yakutia, while visiting the area as a [2] judge. The genus name Rhodostethia is from Ancient Greek rhodon, "rose", and stethos, "breast". The specific rosea is Latin for "rose-coloured". [3]

Contents

Description

An adult in non-breeding plumage. Ross's Gull (Rhodostethia rosea).jpg
An adult in non-breeding plumage.

This small bird is similar in size and some plumage characteristics to the little gull. It is slightly larger and longer winged than the little gull species, and has more-pointed wings and a wedge-shaped tail. Its legs are red. Summer adults are pale grey above and white below, with a pink flush to the breast, and a neat black neck ring. In winter, the breast tints and neck collar are lost and a small dark crescent develops behind the eye. [4]

Young birds resemble winter adults, but have a dark "W" pattern on the wings in flight, like young little gulls. The juveniles take two years to attain full adult plumage.

Ross's gull measurements: [5]

Distribution and habitat

Ross's gull breeds in the high Arctic of northernmost North America, and northeast Siberia. It migrates only short distances south in autumn, most of the population wintering in northern latitudes at the edge of the pack ice in the northern Bering Sea and in the Sea of Okhotsk, although some birds reach more temperate areas, such as north west Europe; in February 2016 they were sighted in Cornwall and Ireland according to the BTOs 'BirdTrack', in December 2021 two were seen in Belgium, one in Nieuwpoort [6] and one in Zeebrugge. [7] In North America, a Ross's gull has been spotted as far south as Salton Sea in California, although sightings this far south are extremely rare. The summer breeding grounds are tundra with sedges, grass tussocks, dwarf willows, bushes, lichens and pools. [4]

Biology

The Ross's gull breeds in small colonies on tundras and swampy Arctic estuaries, often nesting with other seabirds such as Arctic terns. It lays two to three eggs in a nest on the ground lined with seaweed, grass or moss, often on an island in a little lake. The eggs are olive green with small reddish-brown spots. Incubation takes about three weeks and the chicks fledge in another three weeks. Not all pairs successfully rear their young as predators and bad weather often take their toll. [4]

This bird will eat any suitable small prey such as small fish and crustaceans, and during the winter often feeds on mudflats like a wader. During the breeding season it is largely insectivorous, feeding on beetles and flies. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tundra swan</span> Species of bird

The tundra swan is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan of the Palaearctic and the whistling swan proper of the Nearctic. Birds from eastern Russia are sometimes separated as the subspecies C. c. jankowskii, but this is not widely accepted as distinct, with most authors including them in C. c. bewickii. Tundra swans are sometimes separated in the subgenus Olor together with the other Arctic swan species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruddy turnstone</span> Species of bird

The ruddy turnstone is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed duck</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed duck, formerly known as the oldsquaw, is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the genus Clangula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediterranean gull</span> Species of bird

The Mediterranean gull is a small gull. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Ichthyaetus is from ikhthus, "fish", and aetos, "eagle", and the specific melanocephalus is from melas, "black", and -kephalos "-headed".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed jaeger</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed skua or long-tailed jaeger is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common eider</span> Species of bird

The common eider, also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on coastal waters. It can fly at speeds up to 113 km/h (70 mph).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laughing gull</span> Species of bird

The laughing gull is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named for its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. The two subspecies are L. a. megalopterus — which can be seen from southeast Canada down to Central America — and L. a. atricilla, which appears from the West Indies to the Venezuelan islands. The laughing gull was long placed in the genus Larus until its present placement in Leucophaeus, which follows the American Ornithologists' Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little stint</span> Species of bird

The little stint is a very small wader. It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to Africa and south Asia. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America and to Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific minuta is Latin for "small.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey plover</span> Species of bird

The grey plover or black-bellied plover is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black guillemot</span> Species of bird

The black guillemot or tystie is a medium-sized seabird of the Alcidae family, native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts. It is resident in much of its range, but large populations from the high arctic migrate southwards in winter. The bird can be seen in and around its breeding habitat of rocky shores, cliffs and islands in single or smalls groups of pairs. They feed mainly by diving towards the sea floor feeding on fish, crustaceans or other benthic invertebrates. They are listed on the IUCN red list as a species of least concern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rough-legged buzzard</span> Species of bird

The rough-legged buzzard (Europe) or rough-legged hawk is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Russia during the breeding season and migrates south for the winter. It was traditionally also known as the rough-legged falcon in such works as John James Audubon's The Birds of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little gull</span> Species of bird

The little gull, is a species of gull belonging to the family Laridae which is mainly found in the Palearctic with some colonies in North America. It breeds on freshwaters and spends winters at sea. It is the smallest species of gull in the world and the only species in the monospecific genus Hydrocoloeus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-necked stint</span> Species of bird

The red-necked stint is a small migratory wader. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ruficollis is from Latin rufus, "red" and collum, "neck".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitic jaeger</span> Species of bird

The parasitic jaeger or Arctic skua (Europe), is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migratory species that breeds in Northern Scandinavia, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Northern Canada, Alaska, and Siberia and winters across the southern hemisphere. Kleptoparasitism is a major source of food for this species during migration and winter, and is where the name is derived from.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King eider</span> Species of bird

The king eider is a large sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay four to seven eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic redpoll</span> Species of bird

The Arctic redpoll or hoary redpoll is a bird species in the finch family Fringillidae. It breeds in tundra birch forest. It has two subspecies, A. h. hornemanni of Greenland and neighbouring parts of Canada, and A. h. exilipes, which breeds in the tundra of northern North America and the Palearctic. Many birds remain in the far north; some birds migrate short distances south in winter, sometimes travelling with common redpolls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roseate tern</span> Bird in the family Laridae

The roseate tern is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name Sterna is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific dougallii refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McDougall (1777–1814). "Roseate" refers to the bird's pink breast in breeding plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabine's gull</span> Species of bird

Sabine's gull also known as the fork-tailed gull or xeme, is a small gull. It is the only species placed in the genus Xema. It breeds in colonies on coasts and tundra, laying two or three spotted olive-brown eggs in a ground nest lined with grass. Sabine's gull is pelagic outside the breeding season. It takes a wide variety of mainly animal food, and will eat any suitable small prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivory gull</span> Species of bird

The ivory gull is a small gull, the only species in the genus Pagophila. It breeds in the high Arctic and has a circumpolar distribution through Greenland, northernmost North America, and Eurasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-eyed gull</span> Species of bird

The white-eyed gull is a small gull that is endemic to the Red Sea. Its closest relative is the sooty gull. The species is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN; human pressure and oil pollution are deemed the major threats. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2020). "Rhodostethia rosea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T22694476A168884321. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22694476A168884321.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. E. Potapov. 1990. Birds and brave man in the Arctic (Explorers of Polar deserts, Russo-Japanize war and ever mysterious Ross's Gull). – Birds International, v.2 N°3, p. 72-83.
  3. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 335, 337. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Rhodostethia rosea: Ross's Gull" (in French). Oiseaux.net. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  5. "Ross's Gull Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  6. "Zeldzame Ross' meeuw uit Siberië lokt honderden natuurfotografen naar Nieuwpoort". www.vrt.be (in Dutch). 21 December 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  7. "Natuurgids Billy kwam speciaal voor Ross' meeuw terug uit vakantie: "Een hels verhaal, maar ik heb hem gezien"". 22 December 2021.

Densley, Michael "In search of Ross's Gull " Peregrine books. 1999.