Species: Hydrocoloeus minutus
Little Gull
Species
Show on Lists
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Hydrocoloeus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Gaviota Mínima - mouette pygmée
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Laridae - Hydrocoloeus - were included (AOU, 2008).
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - false - true
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Forages at water surface for fishes and crustaceans, eats insects caught in flight inland, sometimes feeds at sewer outlets of cities in northeastern U.S. seaboard (Terres 1980).
Reproduction Comments
Lays clutch of usually 3 eggs, May-June in Ontario. Incubation 20-21 days, by both sexes. Young tended by both parents, fly at 21-24 days.
Length
28
Weight
120
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-27
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-27
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.MB=S1&CA.ON=S1&CA.QC=__&US.CT=__&US.ME=__&US.MD=__&US.MA=__&US.MI=__&US.MN=__&US.NH=__&US.NJ=SNR&US.NY=__&US.NC=__&US.PA=__&US.VT=__&US.VA=__&US.WA=__" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
BREEDING: locally in North America along Great Lakes in northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan, (Upper Peninsula), and southern Ontario, also in Manitoba and Quebec; and in Eurasia. First started breeding in Ontario in 1962, has expanded range since then to include northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan in mid-1970s, Manitoba in 1981, and Quebec in 1982 (Spendelow and Patton 1988). NON-BREEDING: in North America on Great Lakes, and along Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Virginia; also in Old World.