Common in winter in the piedmont and along the coast in North Carolina, Bonaparte's Gulls are fairly small and show a distinct white wedge in the upper wing as adults.
For the 56,576 species in the Class Aves (Birds), we average 371.87 observations each in our database; for the Bonaparte's Gull, we have 17,412 observations. Compared to other species in this Class, this species is moderately common.
A two-sample t-test can be used to determine whether the trend in observations of the Bonaparte's Gull is the same as the trend in observations of Aves. Is this species just as common, as a proportion of all observations, as it once was? The answer is no, changes in observation rate of this species significantly differ from changes in observation rate of its Class. (t=27.181, p<0.001)
How do observation rates of the Bonaparte's Gull differ from those of Aves? To answer this, we examined the percentage of observerations for Aves that were observations of the Bonaparte's Gull each year. We then correlated this percentage with observation year. If observations of the Bonaparte's Gull are becoming more common relative to other species of Aves, the correlation should be positive, but if it is becoming less common, the correlation should be negative. In fact, the correlation is negative (r=-.12), with a negative slope (m = -.001), suggesting that the Bonaparte's Gull may be in decline relative to other species of Aves. This correlation is statistically significant. (F = 57.08, p<.05)
The scatter chart to the right shows the percentage of all observations for Aves each year that were observations of the Bonaparte's Gull.
History:
1988-Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004)
1994-Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004)
2000-Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2000)
Justification
This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 4,300,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 260,000-530,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)
BirdLife International 2004. Larus philadelphia. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 21 October 2006.
Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 21, 2007.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 05, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from
17 providers.
Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, and quot;Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds, and quot; in Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, by D.F. Stotz, T.A. Parker III, J.W. Fitzpatrick, and D.K. Moskovits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-64676-9.
Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD