more on Ross' Gull from Birdchat...

____________________________
Mike Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 14:43:01 +0700
From: Hywel Phillips <hywel at KSC.AU.AC.TH>
To: Multiple recipients of list BIRDCHAT <BIRDCHAT at ARIZVM1.ccit.arizona.edu>
Subject: Ross' Gull

Have a look in 'The Birds of the Western Palearctic'. I'll attempt a
summary. This is my first post here so please forgive any blunders!

Food.

On breeding grounds, chiefly insects; elsewhere probably mainly
surface-dwelling invertibrates and small fish.

Food taken on or just below surface of ice or water by four main methods
1) most commonly, surface plunging - immersing only breast and part of
head.
2)hovering
3)dipping-to-surface
4)surface feeding

In its' breeding range birds hover over water catching insects(beetles
and dipteran flies), surface-fed, and walked over ice picking up
insects.

Winter distribution unconfirmed. Presumed to be along ice edge of Arctic
Ocean.
Breeding grounds in N.E Siberia reoccupied late May to early June.

At Point Barrow earliest autumn date 6 August, but main movements
late Sep to Nov.

Believed to also to winter among pack-ice in northern waters of
Barents and Norwegian seas, accounting for the relative frequency
of occurrence in North Sea countries.


(I saw mine in Shetland quite a few years ago. Beautiful.)