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The brown-hooded gull (''Chroicocephalus maculipennis'') is a species of
The mature bird has a dark brown head and throat with a white semicircle around the posterior part of the eye, while the neck, chest and abdomen are white. The beak and legs are red. The primary flight feathers are dark gray, while the secondaries and covert feathers are a lighter gray. This bird may be confused with the
The
gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...
found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
, and Uruguay. Its specific epithet, '' maculipennis'', means 'spotted wings' (''macula'' + ''penna''). It is a white bird with a brown head and red beak and feet.
Description
The mature bird has a dark brown head and throat with a white semicircle around the posterior part of the eye, while the neck, chest and abdomen are white. The beak and legs are red. The primary flight feathers are dark gray, while the secondaries and covert feathers are a lighter gray. This bird may be confused with the Franklin's gull
Franklin's gull (''Leucophaeus pipixcan'') is a small (length 12.6–14.2 in, 32–36 cm) gull. The genus name ''Leucophaeus'' is from Ancient Greek ''leukos'', "white", and ''phaios'', "dusky". The specific ''pipixcan'' is a Nahuatl name f ...
. There is no significant sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...
.
Distribution and habitat
This species is found in South America, breeding from Argentine and ChileanPatagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
, the Falkland Islands and Uruguay. In winter, its range extends up to the coasts of north Chile and central Brazil. Its natural habitats include freshwater lakes, intertidal marshes, river banks, and open fields.
Ecology and behavior
These are gregarious birds. Their diet consists primarily of insects, carrion, and food items obtained throughkleptoparasitism
Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when f ...
from other birds. In particular they steal crabs from the red-gartered coot
The red-gartered coot (''Fulica armillata'') is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) H ...
(''Fulica armillata'') and clam
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...
s from the American oystercatcher
The American oystercatcher (''Haematopus palliatus''), occasionally called the American pied oystercatcher, is a member of family Haematopodidae. Originally called the "sea pie", it was renamed in 1731 when naturalist Mark Catesby observed the ...
(''Haematopus palliatus''). The profitability of stealing from these birds is 3.5 times higher for the coots than the oystercatchers. They build floating nests among aquatic vegetation at the edges of ponds and lakes. Three to four eggs are usually laid.
The black-headed duck
The black-headed duck (''Heteronetta atricapilla'') is a South American duck in subfamily Oxyurinae of family Anatidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of th ...
has a brood parasite relationship with the brown-hooded gull in which a female will lay an egg in the nest of a brown-hooded gull with the intent of having the host gull incubate the egg instead of herself.
References
* Pons J.M., Hassanin, A., and Crochet P.A.(2005). ''Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37(3):686-699 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1268078 Chroicocephalus Birds described in 1823 Birds of Argentina Birds of Chile Birds of the Falkland Islands Birds of Uruguay Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN Taxa named by Hinrich Lichtenstein