Gulls are one of those bird species that people recognize in a general sense. From shorelines to inland parking lots and garbage dumps, they make their home across the world in numerous environments. But maybe you were like me…not really thinking about how there was probably more than once species of “seagulls”.

In the winter of 2021/2022 I decided to tackle learning how to ID these birds. Should be easy, right? Absolutely wrong. I was told by more than one very experienced birder that the best way to ID a gull was to find a friend who was “one of the few”. The ones who are the unicorns and can pull out the minutiae of what makes one gull species different from another.

And sure the difference between a Ring-billed Gull and a Great Black-backed Gull is easy noticeable. But the difference between a Great Black-backed Gull and a Slaty-Backed Gull? Or the wild hybrids on the west coast? That takes a unique human. And I wanna be one of them. haha.

This gallery is a tale of my efforts to tackle the identification journey of the Family Laridae.