Ring-billed Gull Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Ring-billed Gulls are the most common Gull in the state by far, a bird you may see in any season, and in a surprisingly large variety of habitats. As with many common birds, it's easy to take them for granted, and thus, as you can see from the photos below, I went about 10 years without adding much for new photos of them here! But my favorite is more recent, from January 2nd, 2021 near Pierre, South Dakota, of a bird that was flying right towards me and checking me out. A common bird but an uncommon pose and photo for me.

Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis


Ring-billed Gull 1	Ring-billed Gull 2	Ring-billed Gull 3	Ring-billed Gull 4
October 7th, 2017	March 18th, 2007	March 18th, 2007	November 2nd, 2002
Wall Lake, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Gavin's Point Dam, South Dakota / Nebraska
Adult gull standing in the sun on a sandy beach	Adult-plumaged gull in flight over icy lake	Adult gull in flight	First-year winter-plumaged gull standing on a sandy beach

Ring-billed Gull 5	Ring-billed Gull 6	Ring-billed Gull 7	Ring-billed Gull 8
November 6th, 2005	July 18th, 2004	July 18th, 2004	November 3rd, 2002
Below Oahe Dam, near Pierre, South Dakota	Below Oahe Dam, near Pierre, South Dakota	Below Oahe Dam, near Pierre, South Dakota	Gavin's Point Dam, South Dakota / Nebraska
Adult plumaged gull strutting on a gravel road	Profile of an adult gull standing on gravel	Adult gull standing on gravel below Oahe Dam	Closeup of head and upper body of first-year gull

Ring-billed Gull 9	Ring-billed Gull 10	Ring-billed Gull 11	Ring-billed Gull 12
November 11th, 2004	March 18th, 2007	March 18th, 2007	March 18th, 2007
Gavin's Point Dam, South Dakota / Nebraska	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Head portrait of an adult Ring-billed Gull	Adult gull in flight on a sunny blue sky day	Adult gull catching a minnow at the ice's edge	Adult gull plucking a meal from the edge of the lake ice

Ring-billed Gull 13	Ring-billed Gull 14	Ring-billed Gull 15	Ring-billed Gull 16
March 18th, 2007	March 18th, 2007	September 14th, 2007	June 21st, 2008
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Gavin's Point Dam, South Dakota / Nebraska	Northern California
Adult bird walking along edge of melting lake ice in early spring	Adult gull coming in to land with a fresh fish snack	First-year bird in flight on a sunny day	Nesting colony of Ring-billed Gulls on a small island

Ring-billed Gull 17	Ring-billed Gull 18	Ring-billed Gull 19	Ring-billed Gull 20
April 21st, 2013	January 2nd, 2021	January 2nd, 2021	October 21st, 2016
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Near Pierre, South Dakota	Near Pierre, South Dakota	Wall Lake, South Dakota
Adult bird standing on a rock in the middle of a stream	Angelic wing spread of an adult Ring-billed Gull hovering in flight	Head-on view of a gull in flight with blue sky in the background	Juvenile first-year bird resting on a sandy beach

Ring-billed Gull 21	Ring-billed Gull 22	Ring-billed Gull 23	Ring-billed Gull 24
October 7th, 2017	April 19th, 2019	November 9th, 2019	November 9th, 2019
Wall Lake, South Dakota	Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Wall Lake, South Dakota	Wall Lake, South Dakota
Adult gull standing on a sandy beach	Head-on view of adult gull standing in shallow water in bright sunlight	Adult gull in flight	First-winter bird standing on a gravel / sandy beach

Ring-billed Gull 25
November 17th, 2019
Below Oahe Dam near Pierre, South Dakota
Adult gull feeding on a crayfish