Animal identifier ยท Animal guides
Larus delawarensis
A medium gull with a black ring near the tip of a yellow bill. Parking lots, landfills, rivers, and coasts across most of the continent.
What does a ring-billed gull look like?
A medium gull with a black ring near the tip of a yellow bill.
What do ring-billed gull tracks look like?
A small webbed print, smaller than a goose, often in a crowd on a beach or a mudflat.
What does ring-billed gull scat look like?
Whitewash on roofs, piers, and light poles where the flock loafs. Do not handle droppings.
Where you find it
Parking lots, landfills, rivers, and coasts across most of the continent. Year-round in much of the range. Some move south for winter.
What to do next
- Watch from a distance
- Do not approach a nest
- If a bird is injured, call a local wildlife rehabilitator
This page is a field guide, not a permit to approach wildlife.
Animals it is confused with
What does a ring-billed gull look like?
White and gray, with a black ring around the yellow bill. The common parking-lot gull.
How to tell a ring-billed gull from similar animals
Use the track, the dropping, and the place together. One print is not enough.
- Canada goose. Webbed, pigeon-toed, in a line from water to grass. Brown goose, black neck, white cheek patch.
- Mallard. A small webbed print. Male has a green head and chestnut chest.
Ring-billed gull field marks
- Webbed three-toed track, about 2 inches, pigeon-toed
- Often on a beach, a flat roof, or a lot
- Yellow bill with a black ring if seen
- White head, gray back
Where the sign shows up
Parking lots, landfills, rivers, and coasts across most of the continent. Typical places: wetland, yard, field. Year-round in much of the range. Some move south for winter.
A small webbed print, smaller than a goose, often in a crowd on a beach or a mudflat. Whitewash on roofs, piers, and light poles where the flock loafs.
Common questions
What does a ring-billed gull look like?
White and gray, with a black ring around the yellow bill. The common parking-lot gull.