Birds Around Me 0116 - Black-headed Gull (कलसिरि गंगाचिल्ली, काला धोमरा)

Birds Around Me 0116 - Black-headed Gull (कलसिरि गंगाचिल्ली, काला धोमरा) - Chroicocephalus ridibundus

In 2019 when I was in Jabalpur, India, all the local newspapers covered the front page with pictures of the birds that traveled all the way from Europe to feast in the Narmada river. People birders or not flocked to the ghats to feed these foreign birds, I also drove 35 km to greet them, greet काला धोमरा. And to my surprise, they were Black-headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), 10s of them. I see them all the time in the UK but wasn't expecting them in Jabalpur.

Black-head Gulls are very sociable, not shy at all, noisy and gregarious birds. Found in flocks of 10s to 100s at a time depending on the availability of food. Juvenile plumage could be confusing with other gulls, a red-maroon beak with a blackish tip is a differentiator. Although it is called Black-headed Gull the hood is more dark-chocolate brown.

Black-headed Gull (कलसिरि गंगाचिल्ली, काला धोमरा) - Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Interesting Facts: A fellow birder once told me that eggs of Black-headed gulls are used as a culinary delicacy in the UK and used in soups or eaten hard-boiled. In Northern India, it is considered as Lord Shiva's messenger from Mount Kailash to deliver a message to river Ganga.

Hindi Name of Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - कलसिरि गंगाचिल्ली, काला धोमरा

https://birds.rekabira.in/p/this-is-list-of-birds-i-clicked-since.html

Birds Around Me - Unfinished List (अपूर्ण सूची)

Ashutosh Jhureley @BirdsAroundMe