Brown-hooded Gull - Chroicocephalus / Larus maculipennis

Brown-hooded Gull (Larus maculipennis)
(aka Chroicocephalus maculipennis)

Brown-hooded Gull, Caulin, Chiloe, Chile, November 2005 - click for larger image

The Brown-hooded Gull is distributed from central Chile to Tierra del Fuego and to south Brazil. During the austral winter there is some migration up the coasts of Chile and eastern Brazil. It is found along the coast as well as along rivers, lakes and marshes.

Non-breeding Brown-hooded Gull, Cassino, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, August 2004 - click for larger image

It looks very similar to Black-headed Gull L. ridibundus and it has been treated as a sub-species of this in the past.

In breeding plumage it has a brown hood with white eye crescents. The bill and legs are deep red. The non-breeding adult has a white head with some dark spots behind the eye. The second photo shows a bird moving into breeding plumage. At this stage they can be confused with Grey-hooded Gull L. cirrocephalus except in flight when the very different markings on the primaries are visible.

Brown-hooded Gull, Lago Villarica, Chile, November 2005 - click for larger image

Brown-hooded Gull, São José do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, September 2004 - click for larger image

Brown-hooded Gull, Chaco-Pargua Ferry, Chiloe, Chile, November 2005 - click for larger image

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