Places and times seen in Munakata city

It is a winter bird in Munakata, and it can be seen on the coast from October to the end of April, but the number is small.

Characteristic

Total length 45 cm. Hermaphrodite color. Become a mature bird in the third to fourth year. Same as or slightly smaller than sea cats.
Her head is round, her eyebrows are small, and her legs are narrow.
The winter wing is white from the head to the lower part of the body, with brown sesame salt-like spots from the head to the chest. The upper surface is bluish gray and the heel and legs are yellow. Some individuals have indistinct dark spots at the end of the eyelids.
In summer feathers, the chest becomes white from the head, and the color of the heel and feet is orangeish.
Young birds are grayish brown in general, have pale feathers on shoulder feathers and raincaps, and are scaly. The brow is dark and the feet are pale pink.

Habit

Fly to the coast, offshore, inner bay, tidal flat, port, estuary, river, pond and so on. Many live in groups and eat fish and shrimps, as well as gokai and shrimps.

distribution

I will travel north of Kyushu in winter birds. It is rare to see it in the southwestern islands.
It breeds from the tundra zone on the Eurasian continent to the Scandinavian Peninsula and overwinters on the Black Sea coast, the Mediterranean coast, the North Sea coast, the Baltic Sea coast, the United Kingdom, the Irish coast, the French Pacific coast, the Japanese Islands, the Red Sea coast, the North American Continental West Coast, etc.

Other

Usually, sea gulls are considered to be birds, mostly sea cats and gulls, and this species is relatively rare. The characteristic of this species is that the tail feathers are black and white horizontal stripes are included.