Feeding Behavior

Forages while walking, wading, or swimming, or may forage in flight by plunging into water or dipping to surface. May steal food from Brown Pelican, landing on pelican's head and snatching fish from larger bird's bill pouch.

Eggs

3, sometimes 2-4. Olive to buff or brown, blotched with brown. Incubation is by both sexes, about 20 days. Young: Remain in nest for a few days after hatching, then wander nearby, hiding under vegetation. Both parents feed young, giving them half-digested food at first, solid food later. Age at first flight about 5 weeks.

Young

Remain in nest for a few days after hatching, then wander nearby, hiding under vegetation. Both parents feed young, giving them half-digested food at first, solid food later. Age at first flight about 5 weeks.

Diet

Includes crustaceans, insects, fish. Diet varies with location and season. Eats many small fish, crustaceans, and insects, also earthworms, snails, refuse. In late spring, gathers to eat eggs of horseshoe crabs. Also eats eggs and sometimes young of other birds, especially Royal Terns.

Nesting

Breeds in colonies, sometimes with thousands of nests; sometimes associated with other species of gulls or terns. Nest site is on ground among grass or bushes. In more southerly areas, may be among denser growth, under shrubs or vines, perhaps for protection from sun. Nest (built by both sexes) may be a scrape in ground with sparse lining, or may be shallow cup of grass, sticks, debris, lined with finer grass. Adults may continue adding to nest during incubation.