Franklin's Gull is a handsome small gull of the interior prairies, and in Michigan it is a rare but eagerly watched migrant. In breeding plumage the adult has a clean black hood set off by bold white crescents above and below the eye, a gray back, and — a key mark — white spots ("mirrors") separating the gray wing from the black wingtip, plus a rosy blush on the underparts in fresh plumage. It is daintier and more buoyant than the common Ring-billed Gull, and it often feeds on insects, following plows across fields much like a small tern or a blackbird.
Franklin's Gulls breed in marshes of the northern Great Plains and are long-distance migrants, wintering along the Pacific coast of South America. In Michigan they occur as rare migrants, mostly in spring and fall, turning up on lakes, marshes, flooded fields, and Great Lakes shorelines, often singly among flocks of other gulls. Their neat hooded look, white eye-crescents, and white-spotted wingtips reward the birder willing to scan through gull flocks for something out of the ordinary.
Feeds heavily on insects and earthworms, often following plows and foraging in fields much like a tern, and also takes small fish and aquatic invertebrates. It hunts by picking prey from the ground, water surface, and air, and is more insectivorous than most gulls.
Franklin's Gull has a fuller black hood, bold white eye-crescents, and white spots separating the gray wing from the black wingtip, and is chunkier. Bonaparte's Gull is smaller and more tern-like with a white wing wedge and no such wingtip pattern.
In marshes of the northern Great Plains, far to the west of Michigan. It is a long-distance migrant that winters along the Pacific coast of South America, passing near or through the state only rarely.
As a rare migrant, mostly in spring and fall, on lakes, marshes, flooded fields, and Great Lakes shorelines, usually singly among other gulls. Any Franklin's Gull here is a notable find.
Immatures keep a half-hood behind the eye — a much bolder dark cap than a young Bonaparte's or Laughing Gull — with broad white crescents around the eye. Adult plumage comes in the third year.
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