Ring-billed gull

^Ring-billed gull

Periodically I have seen small groups of gulls fly over Oasis Valley, in March, May, and July, never landing. Grabbing my binoculars for a look, they appear to be either California gulls or Ring-billed gulls (trying to see the small identifying mark on the bill can be tricky as the bird flies by!). California gulls are the most common breeder in the Great Basin, nesting in such places as Mono Lake, Ruby Marshes, Pyramid Lake, Great Salt Lake in Utah, and possibly Lake Mead in southern Nevada. Ring-billed gulls have been reported breeding in the northern half of Nevada, such as at Ruby Marshes and Pyramid Lake.

Ring-bills have been seen visiting Death Valley in California, about 40 miles to the southwest of Oasis Valley, more commonly than California gulls. From 1891 to 2000, the number of reports of Ring-billed gulls here was 71; for California gulls, 44 sightings*.

*Douglas Threloff and J. Mark Sappington, 2001, The Birds of Death Valley National Park: A Comprehensive Database of Records Bewteen the Years 1891 an 2000. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura CA and U.S. Geological Service-Biological Resources Division, Las Vegas.

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