Andean Gull Chroicocephalus / Larus serranus

Andean Gull Larus serranus
(aka Chroicocephalus serranus)
Chilean name: Gaviota andina

Andean Gull, Laguna Miñiques, Chile, January 2007 - click for larger image

Chile
January / February 2007

The Andean Gull breeds on Andean lakes from northern Ecuador to northern Chile, western Bolivia and northern Argentina. They are usually at a height of 4,000 to 5,300 metres.

Outside the breeding season some birds descend to the Pacific coast.

It is a large hooded gull with a black hood and white eye crescents in breeding plumage. In non-breeding plumage the head is white with a blackish ear spot.

Andean Gull, Lauca N. P., Chile, February 2007 - click for larger image

In flight it shows a distinctive white patch on the primaries though this is hidden when the bird is at rest.

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