{"id":49578,"date":"2017-11-26T05:28:57","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T12:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=49578"},"modified":"2025-05-22T19:42:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T00:42:20","slug":"for-the-love-of-all-thats-birdy-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-seagull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/26\/for-the-love-of-all-thats-birdy-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-seagull\/","title":{"rendered":"For The Love Of All That’s Birdy, There Is No Such Thing As A Seagull"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"No<\/p>\n

I don’t join many groups on Facebook but I am in a lot of groups because people add me to them, most of the groups are about nature photography, wildlife photography, bird photography, bird ID, and you guessed it, birds. I guess people see my photos and go “Hey, she belongs in this group”?\u00a0 I dunno, but because I am in those groups photos posted into them show up in my timeline and some of them make me shake my head.<\/p>\n

One of the things that make my feathers ruffle though is when I see people post a bird photo and call it a “seagull” because there is no such thing as a seagull. If you plan on being a bird photographer you might want to make note of that for the love of all that is birdy.<\/p>\n

\"Not<\/p>\n

And yeah, the rest of us bird photographers, birders, birding nerds and ornithologists might just make fun of you if you call these birds “seagull”.<\/p>\n

Under just the Genus Larus<\/em> we have Pacific gull, Belcher’s gull, Olrog’s gull, Black-tailed gull, Heermann’s gull, Mew gull, Ring-billed gull, California gull, Great black-backed gull, Kelp gull, Cape gull, Glaucous-winged gull, Western gull, Yellow-footed gull, Glaucous gull, Iceland gull, Thayer’s gull<\/del>, European herring gull, American herring gull, Caspian gull, Yellow-legged gull, East Siberian herring gull, Armenian gull, Slaty-backed gull, Lesser black-backed gull, and Heuglin’s gull.<\/p>\n

Not included in any of their names is “seagull”.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the world list of gulls here on Wikipedia<\/span><\/a> and you won’t see a single “seagull”. You can also check guide books and birding apps. Or if you want to stir up a birding group on line call them “seagulls”, \u00a0 I dare ya and please send me a link to the post.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

We said goodbye to Thayer’s gull this year not because they went extinct but because they were lumped with Iceland gulls. Some folks were upset by that lump.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dude,<\/p>\n

Yeah, I know non-birding people call them seagulls but not all gulls live by the sea and even those that do live by the sea are not seagulls.<\/p>\n

It’s just wrong I tell you and so will every knowledgeable birder, bird nerd, biologist, ornithologist and knowledgeable bird photographer. Some of them, I won’t name who, will go into great<\/em> depth while telling you why.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

I’m just poking a little fun at people who call these birds seagulls instead of gulls and I had fun adding the stick arms, signs and speech bubbles to my gull photos to get my point across.<\/p>\n

My sons used to tell me I had an odd sense of humor and maybe I do but if this post stops one person from calling gulls “seagulls” it was well worth it for the love of all that is birdy.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my gull photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the things that make my feathers ruffle though is when I see people post a bird photo and call it a “seagull” because there is no such thing as a seagull. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,520,1022,25,704,188,2000,410,709,26],"tags":[4333,521,90,4230,4264,3995,4160,6247,4468],"class_list":["post-49578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-california-gulls","category-davis-county-utah","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-laughing-gulls-gulls","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-ring-billed-gulls","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-california-gull","tag-gulls","tag-humor-2","tag-larus-californicus","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-laughing-gull","tag-leucophaeus-atricilla","tag-no-such-things-as-a-seagull","tag-ring-billed-gull"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/no-such-thing-as-a-seagull-mia-mcpherson-0297.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cTE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118440,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/22\/resting-ring-billed-gull\/","url_meta":{"origin":49578,"position":0},"title":"Resting Ring-billed Gull","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm sharing a simple photo of a resting Ring-billed Gull adult that I took the last time I made a trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Ring-billed Gull at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ring-billed-gull-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-7360.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ring-billed-gull-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-7360.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ring-billed-gull-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-7360.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ring-billed-gull-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-7360.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108084,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/16\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-excitement\/","url_meta":{"origin":49578,"position":1},"title":"Ring-billed Gull Feeding Frenzy Excitement","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge two days ago I witnessed several Ring-billed Gull feeding frenzies out on the marshes of the refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull feeding frenzy on the marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-feeding-frenzy-mia-mcpherson-4227.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13782,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/25\/four-intimate-gull-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":49578,"position":2},"title":"Four Intimate Gull Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I like gulls. I especially like being able to see them up close when the opportunities arise and will take advantage of my close proximity by taking portraits of these beautiful but often disliked birds.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Peaceful Laughing Gull portrait, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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many bird photographers avoid taking images of gulls, most of the time when I've asked them why they don't take more photos of gulls I hear \"I just don't like gulls\".","rel":"","context":"In "Florida"","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull in front of crashing waves, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-0335.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-0335.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-0335.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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