Mew Gull

With its short, small bill the Mew Gull stands about 14 inches tall and in flight has a wingspan of almost four feet. These medium-sized male and female gulls have similar plumage. With its yellow bill and legs, dark eyes, the Mew Gull has a white head, neck, chest and stomach. The back and wings show gray in color; a dark colored tail and the main feathers have white tips.

In the first year of their life the juvenile Mew Gulls have a pink beak with a black tip and pink or gray legs. Their head, the top of their chest and neck are ivory colored with brown streaks. Their stomach is cinnamon colored and their primary feathers are black.

In the second year of the juvenile's life, their plumage becomes more like the adult. Sometimes you will see a two-year old Mew Gull with a yellow beak.

The Mew Gull breeds from Alaska and Northwestern Canada in the provinces of British Columbia and Saskatchewan. During the breeding season the Mew Gull prefers wooded lakes and rivers. This gull hardly ever moves south of its breeding range, so it is a rare visitor to South Dakota and does not breed in South Dakota.

The Mew Gull spends its winter on the west coast of North America from Alaska south to Baja, California. In the winter months the population of Mew Gulls on Queen Charlotte Islands becomes abundant.

The spring migration of the Mew Gulls happens from the early days of March through the middle of May. Early autumn migrants appear in August. They reach the maximum number of winter gulls around the early days of December.

When the gull visits the coastline it uses different habitats. The gulls will live in bays, estuaries, on beaches, mud flats, harbors, and sewage outlets. Some of the gulls will chase the streams or rivers up to 80 miles inland. When inland, birders observe the Mew Gull from sea level to 1,280 feet above sea level.

The Mew Gull repeatedly joins with other gulls at places that have ample food sources. These places are where the Pacific herring and salmon spawn. The gull is abundant on the coastline in spring and autumn.

During migration and winter, bird watchers see thousands of birds in fields and the gulls are often seen following the farmer's plow eating as the farmer turns over the earth. In August the Mew Gulls begin to appear and they reach the maximum number of birds by the first days of December.

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