Franklin's gull

noun

1. a black-headed North American gull, Larus pipixcan, feeding chiefly on insects.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Franklin's gull¹

1855–60, named after Sir John Franklin

Example Sentences

That in fact his next stop is “the sewage ponds” across town, where he is after a certain species, Franklin’s gull, named after Sir John Franklin, a polar explorer who died of scurvy in 1847.

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They come in search of watch-listed species like the Western snowy plover, long-billed curlew, Franklin’s gull and Brewer’s sparrow, along with hundreds of other more common species like the white-faced ibis.

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In the West the Franklin's Gull follows the farmer in the fields and picks up great numbers of destructive insects.

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