Slender-billed Gull

The slender-billed gull is a mid-sized gull, 37–40cm long with a wingspan of 90–102cm, slightly larger than the black-headed gull, which it resembles, but with no dark hood in summer. It has a pale grey body, white head and breast and black tips to the primaries. The long, tapering head and dark red bill give it an elongated, long-necked look, the legs are dark red and the eye yellow, and in summer the breast has a faint pink flush. First-year birds have a black tail band and dark wing patches (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds very locally on islands and in coastal lagoons and lakes around the Mediterranean and the north-western Indian Ocean, nesting in colonies on the ground; up to three eggs hatch after about 25 days. About half its food is fish, taken in shallow dives, and it also probes mud for invertebrates and catches insects in flight. It winters on coasts, estuaries and bays. SoIB 2023 lists it as resident in India with movements within the country, estimates a long-term decline of about 71% and a current fall of about 8% a year, and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).