Ring-billed Gulls Feeding in a Field

Ring-billed Gulls Larus delawarensis

Feeding in a Freshly Cut Cornfield

King Street North

St. Jacobs, ON

13 October 2013

    We witnessed the interesting spectacle of about 500 Ring-billed Gulls feeding in a cornfield which had been recently cut. We could not discern any of the prey items but I suspect that both insects and small rodents were on the menu, and no doubt kernels of corn scattered in the harvesting process were available also.

    In the late afternoon sun, the backs of some of the gulls appeared quite bluish and we almost did a double take a couple of times thinking that a strange new species was present!

    We thought it quite remarkable that no other species joined in the feast. One might certainly anticipate that Canada Geese, American Crows, Common Starlings and House Sparrows, all ubiquitous in the area, would be present, but Ring-billed Gull was the only species taking advantage of the available food. We checked carefully for Herring Gulls, but could not find a one.