Black-headed Gull: A Rockstar Down Under, Everyday Magic Here
The Australian Stir
If a Nobel Prize or a Guinness record could be awarded to a bird, I am sure that this year it would go to the Black-headed Gull. A species that migrates between Europe and Asia but has appeared on the west coast of Australia, causing such a stir that it has reached The Guardian, Facebook, and television.
We bird enthusiasts like to be, so to speak, a bit like them: travel long distances, get up early, move around sometimes without much apparent sense and do bird things, or gull things, in this case.
The "Laughing" Gull of Valencia
Here in Spain it is common to see the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Although in winter that black head turns white with a simple dark spot behind the eye, as if it had forgotten to finish painting itself.
This reminds me of the last outing I took with a friend to see it in Valencia. He took a photo of it while it was preening its neck feathers and in the image it resembled the face of an owl. The origin of the Spanish name "reidora" (laughing) was clear. Although some argue that it comes from its squawk when they fly in a group, one no longer knows how to separate the bird from its character. Sometimes names could identify more than one trait, said my friend, while I almost convinced him that the gull made that face with full intention, knowing perfectly well that we were photographing it.
In the antipodes they must have given it a transcendental air. For the so-called twitchers, capable of traveling as many kilometers as the gull itself to add a species to their list, seeing it in Australia would be quite an event. In the Albufera of Valencia there are thousands every winter. They go unnoticed among the coots and the rice fields. Nobody travels to see them. Nobody calls them rockstars.
The True Star: Audouin's Gull
But if there is a gull that does create a real stir among observers visiting Valencia, that is Audouin's Gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii).
Exclusively Mediterranean. The only gull in the world with a red-wine colored bill, edged in black and with a small yellow tip. Stylized, graceful, with gray legs and an elegance that distinguishes it at first glance from any other gull.
And with a history that deserves to be told.
At the end of the 20th century it was on the brink of extinction. In 1975 there were barely 1,000 breeding pairs estimated worldwide. Thanks to conservation programs, especially in the Chafarinas Islands and the Ebro Delta, the population recovered to over 20,000 pairs. It is one of the great successes of Mediterranean conservation. And yet, it remains listed as a vulnerable species. The Mediterranean does not forgive carelessness.
It can be seen on the Valencian coast. It is not difficult if you know when and where to look.
But that story deserves its own text. Next time.
Appreciating the Everyday
For now, the Black-headed Gull. The next time you are by the sea or a lake and you see that white and gray fluttering, take a look for a moment. Dark spot behind the eye in winter, black head in summer. Red legs. Light, almost frivolous flight.
In Australia they paid for a flight to see it.
Here you have it for free.
Discover the Mediterranean Birds
If you want to discover the birds of the Valencian Mediterranean coast with someone who knows how to read the territory, write to me. Outings are private, in small groups, and are never ordinary.