Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 - ring-billed gull in Florida, USA. (18 December 2008)
Birds are small to large, warm-blooded, egg-laying, feathered, bipedal vertebrates capable of powered flight (although some are secondarily flightless). Many scientists characterize birds as dinosaurs, but this is consequence of the physical structure of evolutionary diagrams. Birds aren’t dinosaurs. They’re birds. The logic & rationale that some use to justify statements such as “birds are dinosaurs” is the same logic & rationale that results in saying “vertebrates are echinoderms”. Well, no one says the latter. No one should say the former, either.
However, birds are evolutionarily derived from theropod dinosaurs. Birds first appeared in the Triassic or Jurassic, depending on which avian paleontologist you ask. They inhabit a wide variety of terrestrial and surface marine environments, and exhibit considerable variation in behaviors and diets.
Gulls (Family Laridae) consist of over four dozen living species. They have medium-sized bodies, webbed feet, and are aquatic & terrestrial. They are nearly omnivorous, but prefer predation and scavenging. Despite their reputation for being seabirds (sea gulls), they remain near coastlines and are often found far inland. Apart from a slight size difference between the sexes, gulls are not sexually dimorphic. Juveniles differ considerably from adults in plumage patterns and coloration.
Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Aves, Charadriiformes, Laridae
Locality: Algiers Beach, southern shore of Sanibel Island, Gulf of Mexico coast of southwestern Florida, USA (vicinity of 26° 25' 27.64" North latitude, 82° 03' 56.17" West longitude)
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More info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring-billed_gull
