When we were preparing to board the Chunnel train in southern England, to head over to Calais, France, we had a gull friend watching over us. This was a black headed gull, common in England.



While the black headed gull is only found in coastal spots in the US, it's common throughout England. The adults have a chocolate brown hood, but this one is a young gull with only the two stripes. They have an orange-red bill and orange legs. They're about 16" long.



Black headed gulls enjoy any form of water, and eat fish and insects. They only lay 2-3 eggs at a time, which they incubate for just under a month. They then raise the chicks for just over a month before letting them out on their own.

There are about 2 million black headed gulls in the UK.