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WOTW: Beach Birds Appreciation

 

For this wildlife of the week post, let's look at some beach birds! These four kinds of birds were enjoying the same beach on a sunny day: the Willet, Brown Pelican, Ring-Billed Gull, and the Laughing Gull.

The Willet

 A Willet strides forth into the water. Foam can be seen where the water touches the sand. The water is a light brownish color near the sand and aqua further away. The bird has mostly brown feathers, some white feathers on its underside, and a dark bill.

This Willet was running along the shoreline, being cute. To eat, they use their bill to probe for food, which in the water includes things like crabs, small fish, insects, and more.[1] As babies, Willets leave the nest within only 2 days![2]

Scientific Name: Tringa semipalmata
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Seen: Running after, along, and into the waves.
Month: April '26
Range: The Willet can be found throughout a large portion of the west and midwestern United States, as well as most of the United States coastline.[3] Its range extends upwards into Canada as well as southwards along the coastlines of Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and much of South America.
 
A Willet walks along the shoreline as a wave crashes in behind it.

The Brown Pelican

A Brown Pelican soars through the sky. Its wing feathers are splayed out. It's mostly brown, with some white on its head and a long bill.

Seeing Brown Pelicans is always a treat. I like watching them glide through the air, and I like watching them make sharp dives into the water to catch fish. This one did that once, splashing water up into the sun as it did. The Brown Pelican is the smallest pelican in the world.[1] That surprised me, since they always seem large to me. Their wingspans can reach up to 7 feet; their length can reach just over 4 feet.[1]

Scientific Name: Pelecanus occidentalis
Family: Pelecanidae
Seen: Soaring over the water. At least once, it made a sharp nosedive in.
Month: April '26
Range: Along almost the entire coastline of the United States except towards the very top part of the northeast.[4]  Its range extends down into Central America and the top part of South America.

The Ring-Billed Gull

A Ring-Billed Gull stands on the sand while waves spill against the shoreline behind it. White foam can be seen where the waves touch the sand. It is sunny. Its head and belly are white with some light brown feathers. Its wings are gray, and its tail is dark. It has a black band (coloration) near the tip of its bill.
I've said before that I think these birds look like pirate birds when they are in their adult breeding colors, with bold black, white, and gray feathers, a red ring around their eye, and a black ring around their bill.[5] This one is not quite to that stage yet, so its colors and patterns are more subdued, in a peaceful sort of way. There are a lot of these birds: a book from 2004 estimated their population to be 3-4 million.[1] For comparison, the Willet (the first bird in this post) has an estimated global population of 250,000 adult birds, and the Laughing Gull (featured below), has an estimated population of 1.6 million birds.[2,6]
 
Scientific Name: Larus delawarensis
Family: Laridae
Seen: Calmly walking in between lounging beachgoers and the shoreline.
Month: April '26
Range: Throughout the entire United States.[7] They're also found in the Bahaman Islands, a large part of Mexico, and in Canada.  

The Laughing Gull

A Laughing Gull stands on a white sign. The words on the sign cannot be seen. A blue sky and a blurred tree can be seen behind it. Its head is black, its bill is reddish, its belly and neck are white, its wings are gray, and its tail is dark. White can be seen above and below its eyes.

The Laughing Gull sounds like it's laughing at you when it calls: a hearty HA HA HA HA HA. Maybe because it knows it can steal your chips and get away with it. Or maybe because it can spend all day at the beach and is happy. The oldest recorded Laughing Gull was found in Maine and was a minimum of 22 years old.[8] The bird above is a breeding adult; the one below is not. Based on the drawings from Sibley's Guide to Birds, I would guess that it's closest to its "1st Winter" stage, where it still has a lot of brown feathers on it.[5] As it works into its "1st Summer Stage," it will become gray and white.
A Laughing Gull stands on the sand. Its head and belly are white with some gray feathers as well as the hint of some light brown feathers. Its wings are mostly gray up top, and it has some gray and reddish brown feathers on the lower part of its wing. Its tail is dark.
Scientific Name: Leucophaeus atricilla
Family: Laridae
Seen: I saw the ones in these photos mostly towards the back of the beach, standing on signs and wandering up to beachgoers, you know, just to be "friendly." 
Month: April '26
Range: The Laughing Gull is found throughout most of Florida, as well as most of the coastline of the eastern United States and the coasts of the Great Lakes.[9] Its range extends into Mexico (including inland), as well as along the coastlines of the Caribbean Islands and the coast of the north part of South America. In Canada, it is found in a small section of the coastline of the province of Quebec.

Learn More About these Birds:

  1. Alsop, F. J. (2002). Birds of North America (American ed.). Dorling Kindersley Limited.
  2. MassWildlife's Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program. (2025, April 4). Willet. Mass.gov.  
  3. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Willet: Range map. All About Birds. 
  4. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Brown Pelican: Range map. All About Birds.
  5. Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley guide to birds (2nd ed.). Chanticleer Press. 
  6. Audubon. (n.d.). Laughing Gull.  
  7. Cornell Lab of Orntihology. (n.d.). Ring-billed Gull: Range map. All About Birds.
  8. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Laughing Gull: Overview. All About Birds. 
  9. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Laughing Gull: Range map. All About Birds. 
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