{"id":50753,"date":"2018-01-22T05:53:56","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T12:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=50753"},"modified":"2025-02-11T05:53:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T11:53:30","slug":"unusual-behavior-ring-billed-gull-preening-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/22\/unusual-behavior-ring-billed-gull-preening-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Unusual Behavior – Ring-billed Gull Preening In Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull in flight in late afternoon light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When you spend as much time in the field observing and photographing birds as I do you are bound to see unusual behaviors now and then, yesterday was one of those days for me. While photographing birds at my local pond yesterday afternoon I noticed a Ring-billed Gull flying in over the pond and what caught my eye about this particular gull was that the belly of the bird seemed more rounded than normal so I aimed my lens towards the gull, locked on my focus and took some photos of it thinking that later on I could view the images on my monitor and perhaps figure out why the bird’s belly seemed so large.<\/p>\n

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull preening breast feathers in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Three frames later I was glad this Ring-billed Gull’s rotund belly caught my eye when through my viewfinder I could see the gull preening while in flight which is unusual behavior in my experience. I’ve spent a lot of time photographing Ring-billed Gulls over the years and this is the first time I have ever seen or photographed this behavior in a gull species.<\/p>\n

Turkey Vultures are the bird species I most often see preening while in flight and it always surprises me when I see them preening in mid air because it seems like it would be rather difficult to maintain flight and preen at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"PreeningPreening Ring-billed Gull in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/5000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ring-billed Gull was flying forward while its eyes were facing the opposite direction and I didn’t notice the flight of the bird slowing down or becoming erratic at all it just appeared to glide forward without flapping its wings.<\/p>\n

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull preening in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The time stamp on the first photo of the Ring-billed Gull preening in flight was 15:52:05.056 and the time stamp of the last photo of it preening was 15:52:07.003, which is 1.947 or almost two seconds that the gull spent preening while moving forward in mid air.<\/p>\n

When the gull stopped preening it flew down to the surface of the pond and took a drink of water then I lost track of it because there were about 30 other gulls in close proximity on the water.<\/p>\n

I’m certain that I could come up with some rather funny captions for the photos of this Ring-billed Gull preening in flight but I wanted to be truthful about what I saw and photographed with my captions, the gull does look kind of goofy though.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Birds keep it interesting.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Ring-billed Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three frames later I was glad this Ring-billed Gull’s rotund belly caught my eye when through my viewfinder I could see the gull preening while in flight which is unusual behavior in my experience. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139752,"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":[27,410,709,26],"tags":[4226,4101,4052,4122,3539,521,4264,4019,4468,4018,6331,8018,373],"class_list":["post-50753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-ring-billed-gulls","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-behavior","tag-clouds","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-preening-2","tag-ring-billed-gull","tag-sky","tag-unusual-behavior","tag-urban","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-preening-mia-mcpherson-6517.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dcB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":76226,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/17\/serious-looking-ring-billed-gull-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":50753,"position":0},"title":"Serious Looking Ring-billed Gull On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I love photographing gulls. Whether they are feeding, resting, preening, fighting, calling, or in flight gulls are one of my favorite bird species to have in my viewfinder.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Serious looking Ring-billed Gull in flight, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-fluffy-clouds-mia-mcpherson-6946.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-fluffy-clouds-mia-mcpherson-6946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-fluffy-clouds-mia-mcpherson-6946.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-fluffy-clouds-mia-mcpherson-6946.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119756,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/16\/fun-with-a-goofy-immature-ring-billed-gull\/","url_meta":{"origin":50753,"position":1},"title":"Fun With A Goofy Immature Ring-billed Gull","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm always ready for fun, and this goofy, immature Ring-billed Gull provided a bit of fun for me yesterday afternoon at one of my snowy local ponds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Ring-billed Gull looking goofier, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-2479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-2479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-2479.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-2479.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108406,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/01\/urban-ring-billed-gull-adult\/","url_meta":{"origin":50753,"position":2},"title":"Urban Ring-billed Gull Adult","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I wrote that a mini-bike scared the birds at my local pond two days ago. This urban Ring-billed Gull didn't fly off. It stood its ground.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban Ring-billed Gull, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-on-fishing-dock-mia-mcpherson-5230.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-on-fishing-dock-mia-mcpherson-5230.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-on-fishing-dock-mia-mcpherson-5230.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-on-fishing-dock-mia-mcpherson-5230.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55028,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/18\/ring-billed-gull-in-flight-changing-backgrounds-from-one-frame-to-the-next\/","url_meta":{"origin":50753,"position":3},"title":"Ring-billed Gull In Flight – Changing Backgrounds From One Frame To The Next","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On New Year's Day this year I had a Ring-billed Gull in flight in my viewfinder as it flew quickly over my local pond, I knew that from one frame to another the background would change and that the exposure might too","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull in flight in bright afternoon light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-new-years-2018-mia-mcpherson-4803.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-new-years-2018-mia-mcpherson-4803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-new-years-2018-mia-mcpherson-4803.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47548,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/03\/preening-ring-billed-gull-in-a-snow-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":50753,"position":4},"title":"Preening Ring-billed Gull in a Snow Storm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this preening Ring-billed Gull in a snow storm in January of this year at a pond near where I live and it was pretty chilly that day.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull preening in a snow storm, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ring-billed-gull-preening-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7136.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ring-billed-gull-preening-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7136.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ring-billed-gull-preening-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7136.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ring-billed-gull-preening-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7136.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49939,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/17\/ring-billed-gulls-flying-in-a-december-snow-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":50753,"position":5},"title":"Ring-billed Gulls Flying in a December Snow Storm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The light wasn't great when I photographed these Ring-billed Gulls flying in a December snow storm but I had a great time with the gulls and the rest of the birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Ring-billed Gull flying in a snow storm, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-snow-mia-mcpherson-5867.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-snow-mia-mcpherson-5867.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-snow-mia-mcpherson-5867.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-snow-mia-mcpherson-5867.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}