Little Gull

While in the Pamucak Wetlands in Turkey, nearing the Little Meander River where it empties into the Aegean Sea, I spotted a gull that did not look like any of the others I'd seen on our trip. It was on Pamucak Beach very near the water. 

This does look like a photo of a first winter little gull on Birds of the World, with a dark beak and blackish/red legs and feet. 

I identified it as a Mediterranean gull on iNaturalist, but an identifier named kocoleoptera disagreed and indicated it was a little gull. I went to kocoleoptera's iNat page and he identified himself as a Turkish student that is "mainly a birder..., especially those from Turkiye...On ebird, I've been a reviewer for Turkiye since March 14, 2026."  On eBird, his name is indicated as Koray Ogreten from Istanbul, the Regional Reviewer for Turkiye and the Hotspot Editor for Turkiye. 

Illustration of breeding from Birds of the World.

Illustration of non-breeding from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. As I look at the range map, the little gull looks like it should be farther north at this time of the year and iNaturalist did not even show the little gull as an option. But after looking at the identifier's credentials, I decided to go with it. 

The little gull is the smallest gull in the world. Birds of the World's article focuses on the little gull in North America. The Wikipedia article does state that "In the early 21st Century non-breeding birds have summered in western Europe in increasing numbers..." It also indicates that they "typically arrive at their breeding areas from late-April up to late May and start to move away from the breeding areas from the middle of July." This was in western Asia, not western Europe, and was in late June, but I decided to go with the Turkey eBird expert. This is a new bird (lifer) for me.