Here you see what appears to be a nonbreeding adult American Herring Gull, acting the part of a tailored gray and white bird on a clouded gray and white day last week.
This Gull (Larus [argentatus] smithsonianus) is commonly called a Herring Gull because herring are one of its favorite foods. However, the bird is not a very good fisherman, and often needs more calories than it can catch swimming in water. It then relies on scavenging and stealing to survive. It seems that it will eat just about anything dead or alive that looks edible, can be caught, and can fit into a beak whole or in bites.
While not an expert fishing in water, the Herring Gull is one of the deftest sea birds in the sky. It “is a master of the air,” according to the late Edward Howe Forbush, who continued: “It can fly forward or backward, veer gracefully in any direction, soar with stiffened pinions or shoot downward like an arrow, sail on steady wing against the wind and perform numberless evolutions with grace and ease.”
(Images taken in Surry, Maine, on February 9, 2023.)