Non-Passerines pages initiated March 20, 2000; Last updated:  February 18, 2003

Chapter 3:

Non-PASSERINES, Part III
(Shorebirds through Skimmers)

Jump to:
JAEGERS -- Pomarine, Parasitic, Long-tailed -- GULLS -- Laughing, Franklin's, Little, Black-headed, Bonaparte's, Ring-billed, California, Herring, Thayer's, Lesser Black-backed, Slaty-backed, Glaucus, Great Black-backed, Sabines -- KITTIWAKE -- Black-legged -- TERNS -- Gull-billed, Caspian, Royal, Sandwich, Roseate, Common, Arctic, Forster's, Least, Bridled, Sooty, Black, Brown Noddy -- SKIMMER -- Black

Return to Chapter Index for more species

KEY:

JAEGERS, GULLS, TERNS and SKIMMERS
(Charadriiformes Laridae)

(Stercorariinae) JAEGERS and SKUAS

Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus)

Accidental. 

All records:

Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus)

Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): August 26 - May 6.

All records:

Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)

The first state record was of 2 subadults found by Gene and Shannon Knight and Jeff Wilson on Enid Lake, Yalobusha County, on September 9, 2000. They were still present through Sunday the 10th, when they were approached by boat and photographed at distances as close as 15 feet.  Dick and Judy Burkpile and W. Marvin Davis were among the birders who also saw both birds on Sunday.

Jaeger Species

All records:

(Larinae) GULLS and TERNS

Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)

Recorded all months.

Franklin's Gull (Larus pipixcan)

First recorded in Gulfport, by LEW, November 1960 (Toups and Jackson 1987).
Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): October 15 - February 11, May 11.
Maximum number:  77 -- date unknown - fide JAT (pers. comm).

Fall early dates:

Spring late dates:

Little Gull (Larus minutus)

All records:

Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Accidental.  Previous records elsewhere in the staet include 1 at Grenada Dam, Grenada County in January 1987 (Davis et al. 1991), and another at Pickwick Lake, Tishomingo County on January 12, 1991 (Davis et al. 1991), and another (or the same) at Sardis Dam, Panola County on January 18-24, 1991 (Davis et al. 1991).

All records:

Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia)

Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): November 10 - May 24.

Fall early dates:

Spring late dates:

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

Recorded all months.

California Gull (Larus californicus)

Accidental.

All records:

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Recorded all months.

Thayer's Gull (Larus thayeri)

A couple northern Mississippi reports exist (Schiefer 1998b).

All records:

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)

Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): October 25 - March 31.
First three sightings may have been of same bird returning--all adults found in same area (Toups 1985). A few of the records in recent years may pertain to Kelp Gull, a few of which have nested (and hybridized extensively with Herring Gulls) on Louisiana's Chandeleur Islands directly off our coast (JAT, pers comm).

All records:

Slaty-backed Gull (Larus schistisagus)

No coastal records found. There is one report of a first-winter bird from the Sullivan Road Catfish Ponds, Tunica Co. (northern MS) on February 13-26, 1993 (Schiefer 1994).  It was seen by several folks and was photographed by Jeff R. Wilson and Gene Knight (T. Schiefer, pers. comm).  It was also wearing a steel leg band "apparently not recently used on gulls by U.S. banders." (Stedman 1993).   This record is currently under review by the Mississippi Ornithological Society Bird Record's Committee.

Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)

Accidental.
Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): December 22 - March 23.

All records:

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)

Accidental, but potentially more likely as time goes by and the birds expand their ranges...
Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): December 17 - May 8. 

All records:

Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini)

Accidental.

All records:

Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)

Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): October 26 (typo???) - March 11. 

All records:

(Sterninae)

Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)

Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): March 27 - September 5, December 15-19, February 26.

Spring early dates:

Fall late dates:

Winter records:

Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)

Recorded all months.

Royal Tern (Sterna maxima)

Recorded all months.

Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)

Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): March 17 - November 17, December 15-30.

Spring early dates:

Fall late dates:

Winter records:

Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)

Accidental. The only two Mississippi records (that I've found) are "unpublished" records listed in Toups and Jackson (1987) below. 

All records:

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Recorded all months, but use extreme caution in winter; most Common Terns winter outside the United States. The bird is most common on the mainland in August and September -- on the islands in May and June (JAT, pers. comm).

Spring early dates:

Fall late dates:

Winter records:

Arctic Tern -- possible (Sterna paradisaea)

Bob Doe reported and described what may have been an Arctic Tern in direct comparison with Forsters and Common terns at Moses Pier, Gulfport, MS. on September 25, 2002. Confirmation could not be made, and this species is best considered hypothetical

Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)

Recorded all months.

Least Tern (Sterna antillarum)

For the history of perhaps the largest tern colony nesting on the mainland see Toups (1976) and Jackson (1976).
Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): April 4 - September 23. Reports of this species on March 8, 2000, are very early and unsubstantiated at this time.

Spring early dates:

Fall late dates:

Bridled Tern (Sterna anaethetus)

Our first state record for a live bird was provided by Gates and Fairley in Hattiesburg on September 13, 1979 after Hurricane Frederic (Gates and Fairley 1979). Coastal records are as follows:

All records:

Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata)

Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): July 11 - October 29.

All records:

Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)

Range by Toups and Jackson (1987): March 28 - November 3.

Spring early dates:

Fall late dates:

Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)

All records:

(Rynchopinae)

Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)

Recorded all months.

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