Rhodostethia rosea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
Ross's gull (Rhodostethia rosea) is a small gull, the only species in its genus, although it has been suggested the genus should be merged with the closely related Hydrocoloeus, which otherwise only includes the little gull.
This bird is named after the British explorer James Clark Ross. Its breeding grounds were first discovered in 1905 by Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin near the village of Pokhodsk in northeastern Yakutia, while visiting the area as a judge. The genus name Rhodostethia is from Ancient Greek rhodon, "rose", and stethos, "breast". The specific rosea is Latin for "rose-coloured".
This small bird is similar in size and some plumage characteristics to the little gull. It is slightly larger and longer winged than the little gull, and has more pointed wings and a wedge-shaped tail. Its legs are red. Summer adults are pale grey above and white below, with a pink flush to the body feathering, and a neat black neck ring. In winter, the neck collar is lost, and a small dark crescent develops behind the eye; the pink colour, which is diet-related, is lost in some but not all individuals.
Young birds resemble winter adults, but have a dark "W" pattern on the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Ross's Gull sighting in Chicago on a given day, based on 217 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 257th most-seen of the 314 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Ross's Gull in Chicago on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Only Chicago, in our data
Chicago is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Ross's Gull sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Laridae
The closest relatives of the Ross's Gull that you can see in Chicago (family Laridae, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers) are Ring-billed Gull (about 60%), American Herring Gull (about 30%) and Caspian Tern (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ross's Gull is recorded against all the birds logged in Chicago (217 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
