We discovered these gulls on one of the many small lakes in the general vicinity of Hebron Parkway and I-35. Also in close proximity are the Trinity River and the DFW Landfill. The landfill alone may best explain this large congregation of gulls.
At one point during the observation the gulls became agitated and took to the air. A great mass of the birds swirled above us. In their midst, I observed a Turkey Vulture and a Red-tailed Hawk. It seems unlikely, but it may be possible that one of these two birds were responsible for exciting the gulls.
| County | – | Denton |
|
| City | – | Lewisville | |
| Date | – | Nov 22, 2011 | |
| Time of Day | – | Afternoon | |
| Temperature | – | Cool (50-69°F/10-21°C) | |
| Weather | – | Clear | |
| Habitat | – | Water-Lake | |
| Type of Behavior | – | Congregating | |
| Gender | – | Mixed | |
| Maturity | – | Mixed | |
| Observer | – | Chris Jackson |
Your website about urban wildlife is very interesting.
Are there often Ring-billed Gulls in Dallas? We are studying Ring-billed Gull in Montréal (Québec): we band birds and we track some of them Argos-GPS. One have reached Miami this week, an other Cuba! I’m not sure if they can move furhter West, to Texas. If you ever observed a banded bird, this information is very valuable for us. You can get more information on our web site (gull.uqam.ca).
Yes, we have a lot of Ring-billed Gulls here in Dallas. I will be on the lookout for the bands!
You could also sight wing tagged gulls from Massachussetts (http://www.mass.gov/dcr/watersupply/watershed/study/index.htm).
Have a nice day!
Well, we went out and observed some gulls at a nearby lake today. We took lots of pictures, that I will be posting on the web site later in the week.
There were a couple of hundred gulls at this location. At least one of the gulls we photographed was banded. It appears to only have a single aluminum band on its left leg. No text is visible on the band in our photograph. I don’t expect that this is one of your birds, but who knows?
Under some circumstances, the gulls at this location will come out of the water and gather on the north bank. I’m not sure what those circumstances are (maybe colder weather), but I will watch for one of these congregations, and try for more pictures then. I’m sure checking their legs for bands will be much easier when they are standing on dry land.