Little Gull Habitat Model
go to: USFWS Gulf of Maine Watershed Habitat Analysis
go to: Species Table

Draft Date:
November 2002

Species:
Little gull, Larus minutus.  The following account was derived from Ewins and Weseloh (1999)

Use of Study Area Resources:
Wintering. The North American population is believed to breed from the Great Lakes northwest to the Yukon and to winter on the Atlantic Coast from eastern Maine to Florida, the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas, and the U.S. Pacific Coast.  Demographics are poorly documented, but the population seems to be increasing steadily in North America, and the little gull may be expanding its range from its center of abundance in northern Europe, Siberia, through North Africa.

Habitat Requirements:
Cover. Regularly associated with Bonaparte's Gulls on feeding and roosting sites.  Feeds in areas of water turbulence or upwelling, including the mouths of rivers, sewage outfalls, estuaries and harbors, both over shallows and offshore. Loafs on beaches and mudflats.

Foraging. Little gulls feed on insects, small fishes, and aquatic invertebrates

Habitat Mapping:
Data Sources: Sites at which little gulls occur were obtained from narratives in Pierson et al. (1996) and Veit and Petersen (1993). Because of the generality of the descriptions and habitat characterization, these locations were buffered at 5 km. The lower intertidal through subtidal riverine, estuarine and marine waters (see table, below) within the buffers were regarded as probable feeding habitats, while adjacent (within 90 m of the high tide line) beaches and intertidal flats, and non-forested uplands were regarded as probable roosting areas.  Because of the limited level of use by little gulls, and poor specificity of habitat, these areas were scored 0.5 (on a 0 to 1.0 scale) for foraging, or 0.4 for roosting.

NWI Designations (wetlands only)	Cover Types	Cover Suitability (0 - 1 scale)
	Upland deciduous forest
	Upland coniferous forest
	Upland mixed forest
	Grassland	0.4*
	Upland scrub/shrub	0.4*
	Cultivated	0.4*
	Developed	0.4*
	Bare ground	0.4*
PEM, L2EM	Lake/pond, emergent vegetation
PFOcon	Palustrine forest, conifer
PFOdec	Palustrine forest, deciduous
PSSdec	Palustrine scrub shrub, deciduous
PSScon	Palustrine scrub shrub, conifer
PAB, L2AB	Lake/pond, aquatic vegetation
L1UB, PUB	Lake/pond, unconsolidated bottom
L2US	Lake, unconsolidated shore
L2RS	Lake, rocky shore
R1UB	Riverine subtidal unconsolidated	0.5**
Rper	Riverine perennial
E1AB	Estuarine subtidal vegetated	0.5**
E1UB	Estuarine subtidal unconsolidated bottom	0.5**
E2AB	Estuarine intertidal algae	0.5**
E2EM	Estuarine intertidal emergent
E2RS, R1RS	Estuarine, tidal river rocky shore	0.5**
E2SS	Estuarine intertidal shrub
E2US/R1US	Estuarine, Riverine intertidal unconsolidated shore	0.5**
M1AB	Marine subtidal vegetated	0.5**
M1UB	Marine subtidal unconsolidated bottom	0.5**
M2AB	Marine intertidal algae	0.5**
M2RS	Marine intertidal rocky shore	0.5**
M2US	Marine intertidal unconsolidated shore	0.5**
NOTES	* denotes roosting/loafing areas, within 90  m of probable forage areas ** denotes probable forage areas, based on known use within 5 km

Sources:

Ewins, P.J. and V.C. Weseloh. 1999. Little gull, Larus minutus. In A. Poole and F. Gill, (eds.) The Birds of North America, No. 428. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Pierson, E.C., J E. Pierson and P.D. Vickery. 1996. A Birders Guide to Maine. Down East Books, Camden, ME.

Veit, R.R. and W.R. Petersen. 1993. Birds of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Audubon Society. 514 p.