Slender-Billed Gull, Distribution, Features, Conservation Status

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Slender-Billed Gull Latest News

Birders in Chennai recently recorded a rare shorebird, the slender-billed gull, at the Pallikaranai marshland.

It breeds very locally around the Mediterranean and the north of the western Indian Ocean (e.g. Pakistan) on islands and coastal lagoons.
Most of the population is somewhat migratory, wintering further south to north Africa and India, and a few birds have wandered to western Europe.
In India, it is considered a regular along the western coast with several records from wetlands of northern India.

It is 37 to 40 cm long with a 90 to 102 cm wingspan.
It has a pale grey body, a white head and breast, and black tips to the primary wing feathers.
The head and dark red bill have an elongated tapering appearance, and this bird also appears long-necked.
The legs are dark red, and the iris is yellow.
About half of the slender-billed gull’s food is fish. It flies a few metres above the surface of the water and dives into the water when it sees suitable prey.
Conservation Status: ‘Least Concern’ under the IUCN Red List.

It is a freshwater marsh and partly saline wetland situated about 20 kilometres south of the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
It serves as an aquatic buffer of the flood-prone Chennai and Chengalpattu districts.
It encompasses 65 wetlands through two outlets, viz., Okkiyam Madavu and the Kovalam Creek, and falls into the Bay of Bengal.
On its eastern periphery, the marsh is flanked by the Buckingham Canal.
Parts of the marsh are well below the mean sea level and qualify as low-lying basins.
It is one of the Ramsar sites in India.