Little Gull

The little gull is a compact gull measuring 24–28 centimetres long with a 62–69-centimetre wingspan. Breeding adults have a black hood, dark red bill, red legs and sometimes a pinkish wash beneath. Outside the breeding season, the head pattern contracts to a black cap and ear spot. Adults retain pale grey upperparts, white primaries and very dark grey underwings in every plumage. Juveniles instead show blackish areas above and a dark W-shaped upperwing pattern in flight. (Wikipedia, general species account)

Breeding occurs mainly across the Palearctic, from northern Scandinavia and the eastern Baltic to eastern Siberia, with smaller colonies around North America's Great Lakes. Nests are placed among dense emergent or floating vegetation beside shallow fresh water, marshes, bogs or slow rivers. Birds often join mixed gull and tern colonies, while nonbreeders feed and rest socially. During breeding they catch insects near the water; in winter, when many move to coasts and the open sea, small fish and marine invertebrates dominate. (Wikipedia, general species account)