Little Gull

Little Gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus) is the smallest gull, with a black breeding hood, pale grey upperwings and strikingly dark underwings. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It hawks insects and picks small aquatic prey from freshwater and coastal surfaces, nesting in marshy colonies. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).