Your sightings of marked gulls will help with this research project to monitor the year-round movements of these birds. Even partial information is welcome (e.g. you saw a pink wing tag but missed the letter code).
Basic reports:
Date, Location (be specific), Band Colour, and Observer Name
Additional details:
- Time & GPS position
- Band & code colour (e.g. white on pink)
- 3-letter code (e.g. AAZ)
- Habitat (e.g. platform, vessel, pier, parking lot, beach, city)
- Behaviour (e.g. following boat, loafing on beach, flying by, feeding)
- Other comments and stories
- Photos are always welcome and can help to identify the letter code
Report your sightings of marked birds by posting comments on this blog or emailing Dr. Ronconi at robert.ronconi@acadiau.ca
See links bar to “Other Gull Research” if you think you’ve spotted a gull from a different research program.
Herring Gull 'AAR' released after tagging on Sable Island
What about green wing tags? Saw an adult Herring Gull with a green wing tag in St. John’s, Newfoundland on 21 August 2011. Too many feathers in the way to read the number.
Bruce Mactavish
St. John’s, NL
There are several projects using coloured leg bands on a variety of gull species, but only a few that have been using wing tags. One study from Massachusetts used green and blue wing-tags on Herring Gulls with the letter “K” on the tags. I suspect this bird you saw was banded during this study.
Dan Clark is coordinating this research from Massachusetts and contact information is provided on the DCR Water Supply Protect Gull Study wesite. I’m sure Dan would appreciate some information on this sighting.
Rob Ronconi
Halifax, NS
We found a Herring Gull at Beacon St. Dam in Glace Bay NS. Oct 3, 2011 AAF A photo of the gull is on our website http://www.capebretonbirds.ca/rarebird.html
Hi,
I found a gull in st.johns Newfoundland today with a Orange leg band marked D7….Any ideas ? I will have pictures posted of the bird on my blog tomorow
http://wetlandswaterfowlofnewfoundland.blogspot.com/
Cheers,
Brendan Kelly
Hi Brendan,
Orange bands with that numbering combination have been used by the Canadian Wildlife Service in Newfoundland. I’m not sure which colony these were banded at. Greg Robertson at the Mount Pearl office has been leading this work and he would be happy to hear about this sighting. Thanks for the report.
Cheers,
Rob
I saw a herring gull tagged AAF with one pink leg band and one silver leg band with other gulls on the Hudson River in Beacon, New York (USA) today, 1/22/12.
Is this the same gull from Nova Scotia? If so, can you tell me more about it? Thank you.
Yes indeed. We banded this gull June 9th, 2011, on Sable Island. This was an adult female captured at the breeding colony during the incubation period. Since the breeding season, she was spotted twice in early October at Beacon St. Dam in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. Thanks for this report…I will contact you by email to get more details.
Rob Ronconi
Halifax, NS
got a Gull with red band western end of Banqureau bank ,
Hm. Interesting. Red bands are not from the Sable study but have been used lots of places in different studies. Bay of Fundy, Massachusetts, and even as far away as Nunavut. If you got a photo or read the band number we’d be able to track it down for you. Rob
I saw a gull with a green wing tag with the code A 302 on it, it was on its right wing. I saw it today in Cornwall, Ontario, down along the water, it was feeding near a group of ducks.
Thanks Mary,
That code and colour was not a Sable Island bird but probably one banded in a winter study from Massachusetts. I will be sure to pass on this sighting to the person leading this study but in the meantime here is a link to learn more: DCR gull study
I saw a blue tag on the left wing of a seagull today and yesterday . We’re fishing scaloppe 10 milles off St-anne-de-kent , NB . In Northumberland Strait . He was feeding and fallowing us all day .
Medard.
I saw a torqouise tag on a blackback seagull at the entrance to the Bras d’Or Lakes, just off Cape Dauphin, NS. Sorry could not read the letters/numbers on the tag because we were lobster fishing at the time.