Vagrant to Ivvavik ⁴

This species is considered a vagrant to Ivvavik National Park, meaning that it is very rarely seen. If you think you see this species please take a photo and upload it to iNaturalist or send it to yukoncdc@gov.yk.ca. We would love to expand our knowledge about this beautiful bird.

Summary ⁵

A black-headed gull with black ends on the tops of its wings. It is a long-distance migrant (Olsen and Larsson 2003) that migrates offshore between its breeding and wintering grounds (del Hoyo et al. 1996). It returns to the breeding grounds from late-May to early-June when the Arctic tundra is still snow-covered, and breeds in colonies of 6 to 15 or occasionally up to 60 pairs (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The species may also nest solitarily or as single pairs amidst colonies of Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea (del Hoyo et al. 1996). After breeding the adults and juveniles depart the breeding grounds from late-July to August (Olsen and Larsson 2003), migrating in flocks of up to a hundred individuals and spending the winter in small flocks (del Hoyo et al. 1996) or as solitary individuals (Snow and Perrins 1998).

The species breeds on coastal (Snow and Perrins 1998) tundra wetlands (del Hoyo et al. 1996) in the Arctic (del Hoyo et al. 1996), showing a preference for swampy, moss and sedge tundra with many lakes (Flint et al. 1984), floodlands and low-lying shallow brackish pools, especially where these contain islets or narrow peninsulas of grass or moss and have low, moist margins that provide feeding areas (Snow and Perrins 1998). Outside of the breeding season the species is pelagic (del Hoyo et al. 1996), occurring in cold water upwelling zones south of the equator (Snow and Perrins 1998).

When breeding its diet consists of adult and larval insects (Flint et al. 1984) (e.g. springtails Collembola), Arachnids, small fish and carrion, as well as small birds and the eggs of Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea and conspecifics (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The species also takes seeds and plant matter on its arrival to the breeding grounds before the Arctic ice melts and other prey items become available (del Hoyo et al. 1996).et al. 1996).

The nest is a shallow scrape (Richards 1990) or more substantial cup of grass (del Hoyo et al. 1996), moss, seaweed and feathers (Richards 1990) placed on rocky, barren (del Hoyo et al. 1996) or damp ground vegetated with moss (Flint et al. 1984) or grass, usually near the edge of water (del Hoyo et al. 1996).

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/7457894@N04/4363310200
2. (c) Flickr, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8283/7737340288_7e103c47fa_b.jpg
3. (c) Tom Benson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/40928097@N07/9908886806/
4. (c) Yukon Conservation Data Centre, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
5. Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31304457

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