This black-headed gull may be found with the greyish juveniles. Flocks may be feeding at any time of day in open, cultivated areas and prairie areas. The Franklins Gull is smaller than the Herring or ring-billed gulls and similiar to another black-headed gull, the laughing gull, whose range is restricted to the east coast.
The gulls first arrive on the refuge in early April when there still may be snow on the ground. Food is sometimes difficult to find and they may rely on fallen grain and sunflower seeds when insects are not yet available and before fields are being plowed.
The gulls begin to lay eggs in mid-May and hatch in 24 days. It takes another 35 days for the chicks to grow to adult size and learn to fly. They leave the colony in search of food and by the end of July have left the refuge, moving throughout the prairie regions of Minnesota and North Dakota. By early September they start to migrate to Texas, through Mexico, to South America.
The Franklins Gull migrates further than any other gull and the birds from Agassiz will eventually spend the winter along the coasts of Peru and Chile.
Information to record for each sighting are the date of the sighting, location (miles from refuge or nearest town), color of the wing tag (orange or green) and number (if possible), and the activity of the gull.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
