Franklin’s Gull

Franklin’s Gull, in Stratford, November 2015. Photo by Patrick Comins.

Franklin’s Gull
Leucophaeus pipixcan

by Patrick Comins, Executive Director of the Connecticut Audubon Society
Franklin’s Gulls are extremely rare visitors to Connecticut, but it might not seem that way from looking at their map on eBird. On first glance it looks like there have been many occurrences up and down the coast, from Groton to Stamford.

Nearly all of those records though are from a remarkable “invasion” that occurred in November 2015 when a strong front coincided with the peak of their migration and pushed a large number of these long-distance migrants to the East Coast.

The mouth of the Housatonic River hosted 14 individuals at one point on November 13, 2015! It was on that day that I had my first and only sightings of this species in Connecticut. One of the first birds was found by Frank Mantlik at the Birdseye Ramp in Stratford; it was sitting in the parking lot with Ring-billed Gulls. I had the good fortune of seeing and photographing it at close range. Later that day I saw at least 13 individuals on the water off Stratford Point. The only previous Franklin’s Gull I had seen was a very unusual winter occurrence in New Jersey more than 20 years ago.

Before this historic invasion there had only been a handful of occurrences in Connecticut. There has also been at least one subsequent record, at the Avery Point Campus, in September of this year. Normally, these birds take an inland route from their nesting areas in the prairie provinces of Canada and the adjacent northern states of Montana and the Dakotas through to the Gulf of Mexico and on to their wintering areas on the Pacific Coast of South America.

Where to find it: The best areas to look for Franklin’s Gull are along the coast, at places like the Oyster River in West Haven/Milford, New Haven Harbor, the mouth of the Housatonic River or at Seaside Park in Bridgeport.

If you don’t find a Franklin’s Gull don’t despair though. November is a great time to look for all sorts of rarities being blown off course from the west to our area and it is also the time of year when waterfowl begin to arrive at coastal locations. You may luck out and find something like a Western Kingbird, a Dickcissel, a Lark Sparrow, or at least get some views of flocks of migrating Surf Scoters or Long-tailed Ducks or other waterfowl as a consolation prize.

What it looks like: Franklin’s Gulls can be somewhat tricky to identify and can be confused with the similar and much more common Laughing Gull. To pick them out of a flock, look for birds that are noticeably smaller, have more extensive black on their hoods and larger white “apical” spots in the primaries. The bill tends to be much smaller than Laughing Gulls and they have more prominent white eye crescents.

At a distance on the water they tend to look slightly darker “backed” than Laughing Gulls when they are seen together and often float up higher in the water, but this is only a clue to help you to decide which birds to more closely examine.

In flight they have a very different wing-tip pattern, with more extensive white markings in the primaries compared to Laughing Gulls, which have a more “dipped in ink” black wingtip pattern. A white band between the black primaries and the gray of the upper wings is diagnostic in flight.

These tips are for picking out an adult bird. Immatures can be very tricky to identify. If you do find what you think might be a Franklin’s Gull try to get a photo to confirm the identification.

Conservation status: While Franklin’s Gulls are rare in our area and on the East Coast in general, they are a fairly abundant bird overall in North America and are classified as “least concern” on the global conservation ranking system known as the “IUCN Red List.”

They tend to migrate in large flocks and can be found stopping over in flocks numbering in the hundreds or even more along the Texas coast and at other key locations along their central flyway.