Ring-billed gull
species of bird
The ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) is a medium-sized gull native to North America, breeding in Canada and the northern Contiguous United States, and wintering mainly in the United States and northern Mexico. The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific delawarensis refers to the Delaware River.
Description
The ring-billed gull is a medium-sized gull, having an average length of 43 to 54 centimetres (16.9 to 21.3 in) and a wingspan that ranges from 105 to 117 centimetres (41.3 to 46.1 in). Adults weigh from 300 to 700 grams (10.6 to 24.7 oz).
The head, neck and underparts are white; the relatively short bill is yellow with a black ring; the back and wings are silver grey with black wingtips with white 'mirrors'; and the legs are yellow. The eyes are yellow with red rims. This gull takes three years to reach its breeding plumage starting with the largely brown juvenile plumage, its appearance changing with each fall moult.
The average lifespan of an individual that reaches adulthood is 10.9 years. The oldest ring-billed gull on record was observed in Cleveland in 2021, still alive at the age of 28 years.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ring-billed gull” as species of bird. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of bird. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q754885. The Library of Congress control number is sh85114118. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ring-billed gull” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.