Swallow-tailed gull (Creagrus furcatus)

Scientific Classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Laridae
Species:	Creagrus furcatus
Common:	Swallow-tailed gull

The Swallow-tailed gull is an equatorial seabird of the gull family. It is a near-endemic breeding bird of the Galápagos Islands. When not breeding it flys and hunts over the open oceans migrating eastward to the coasts of Ecuador and Peru. It is the only fully nocturnal gull and seabird in the world.

Identification

Adults

Adult male and female Swallow-tailed gull are similar in appearance. In the breeding season adults have black heads and a bright red fleshy rim around each eye. Outside the breeding season, the head is white and the eye rim becomes black. It has a grayish upper breast, gray mantle, and black wingtips. The black bill has a contrasting white tip.