Brown-headed Gull juvenile

A few Brown-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus were present among the tern flocks on the sand spits at Laenpak Bia. This photo shows two juvenile Brown-headed Gulls resting in shallow water. Juvenile Brown-headed and Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus are similar and difficult to separate when the birds are at rest on the ground. They both show a black dot behind the eye, reddish legs and a red based bill with a black tip. Identification is easier when the birds are seen in flight as Brown-headed Gull shows blacker primaries and trailing edges of the wings than Black Headed Gull.

Brown-headed Gull is a small gull which breeds in the high plateaus of central Asia from Tajikistan to Ordos in Inner Mongolia. It is migratory, wintering on the coasts and large inland lakes of tropical southern Asia. As is the case with many gulls, it was traditionally placed in the genus Larus. This gull breeds in colonies in large reed beds or marshes, or on islands in lakes, nesting on the ground. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species, and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.

It is a bold and opportunist feeder, which will scavenge in towns or take invertebrates in ploughed fields with equal relish.

Source: Wikipedia