Bonaparte’s gull

Bonaparte’s gull is smaller and more graceful than most gulls, with a flight that looks more like a tern’s. In the breeding season it has a neat black hood, and in fall and winter that is reduced to a dark smudge behind the eye. The bill is thin and black.

Unlike most gulls, Bonaparte’s gulls nest in trees, building their nests in spruce and tamarack around northern lakes and bogs. In Manitoba they are most often seen in migration, feeding in flocks over open water and snapping insects and small fish from the surface. They winter along the coasts and the Great Lakes.

I like the neat black hood and delicate build of a Bonaparte’s gull, which feels more like a tern than a gull.

To find out more about the bonaparte’s gull and the places it lives, visit All About Birds.

Field notes in photographs

Bonaparte’s gull Manitoba sightings

Where and when you can find the bonaparte’s gull in Manitoba depends on the season and the habitat. You can see more species in the Manitoba birds section.

Map of Manitoba showing where the bonaparte's gull nests and migrates, with major cities and lakes — Where to look for the bonaparte’s gull in Manitoba through the seasons: nesting in the Boreal Shield, the Taiga Shield, the Hudson Plains, and the Boreal Plains (gold) and passing through the Southern Arctic and the Prairies in spring and fall (lilac). Habitat regions: National Ecological Framework for Canada. Boundaries: Statistics Canada. Lakes: Natural Earth.

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Bonaparte’s gull

Field notes in photographs

Bonaparte’s gull Manitoba sightings

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