I’m not alone in thinking that most gulls are boring because they can be found anywhere there is a discarded French fry.
Three gull species are common in Maine. Herring gulls are the most abundant. Enough said about them.
Great black-backed gulls resemble a larger version of the herring gull, with a solid dark back and upper wing. Although they come inland, most hang around saltwater.
Ring-billed gulls are slightly more interesting. In spring, they nest on northern freshwater lakes. Later, they move to the coast, and often into town. Their preferred autumn habitats are McDonald’s parking lots and the Bangor Mall.
Then there is the Bonaparte’s gull. It’s among the smallest gulls in the world, and one of the most unusual.
While most gulls nest on the ground, Bonaparte’s gulls choose the trees adjacent to Canada’s northern lakes. In late summer, many invade Maine to winter here. Most linger offshore in Washington County, but some venture farther south.
Bonaparte’s gulls resemble sleek, nimble terns. On their nesting grounds in Canada, they feed by snatching insects out of the air over marshes and forests — something bigger gulls have difficulty doing.
Bonaparte’s gulls continue their aerial acrobatics in Maine. Insects rising to escape a hayfield being mowed, or a hatch of flying ants, draw big swarms of gulls to the feast.
Thousands of Bonaparte’s gulls flood Head Harbor Passage between Eastport and Campobello Island at this time of year. I just returned from my annual trek to see them.
In that narrow island channel, they mostly feed on small fish and tiny crustaceans. Strong tides force food to the surface, and there are no stronger tides than right there.
Bonaparte’s gulls put on quite a show. When they are feeding on insects over land, they do so in big flocks, darting every which way. They are equally adept at stalking agricultural fields, foraging on the ground like shorebirds.
Occasionally, they’ll do a happy dance along the edge of a beach, stomping their bright red feet in the mud to scare edible critters into view.
One of their most attention-getting strategies is to forage as if on a conveyor belt. Huge flocks will gather over a school of bait fish. They fly upwind, rising to spot prey, then dipping down to pluck food off the surface.
They continue flying upwind until they reach the end of the bait ball. Then, they rise to catch the breeze, and drift downwind back to where they started, repeating the process. It’s a fascinating performance.
Head Harbor Passage is an ideal place to watch another amusing behavior. The gulls need the tide to churn up food. When current is slack at high and low tides, the gulls just sit around waiting.
At low tide, they sit on rocky ledges in such numbers that the rocks appear covered in snow. At high tide, they just float randomly in the water. A passing boat may stir them into flight.
The passing boat I prefer is Eastport Windjammers. Captain Butch Harris offers a number of tours, but the one most birders prefer is his whale watch excursion.
Minke whales can be anywhere in the channel. Humpback and finback whales tend to be at the north end, beyond the East Quoddy Head Lighthouse on Campobello. To get there, the boat passes all the way through the gull-filled channel.
Naturally, if 10,000 Bonaparte’s gulls think Head Harbor Passage is an ideal place to fatten up, other birds may suspect the same thing. Rare gulls occasionally drop by for a bite.
Bonaparte’s gulls may be small, but there’s one that’s smaller. Its name is — wait for it — little gull. There’s also one slightly larger, the black-headed gull. Both are common in Eurasia, and each has small colonies in far northern Canada. Those are probably the gulls overwintering in Maine, but finding one is the proverbial needle in a haystack.
There’s always the possibility of a rare gull visiting from the West. Sabine’s gulls nest in the Canadian Arctic and along the coast of Alaska. Occasionally, one pops up on the east coast.
Maine Audubon enjoyed a trip on Eastport Windjammers earlier this month and photographed one just outside the Eastport pier.
All four of these unusual gull species have black heads in summer but change plumage in autumn.
Most of the Bonaparte’s gulls out there right now have a whitish head with a black smudge behind the eye. Their red legs have dulled to pink.
Maine has a lot of birding spectacles. This is one of them.
