Brown-headed Gull

The brown-headed gull is a small gull that breeds on the high plateaus of central Asia from Tajikistan to Inner Mongolia and winters on the coasts and large inland lakes of the Indian subcontinent. It is slightly larger than the black-headed gull. The summer adult has a pale brown head, a pale grey body and a red bill and legs, with conspicuous white mirrors in the black wing tips. The brown hood is lost in winter (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in colonies in large reedbeds or marshes or on lake islands, is highly gregarious in winter and is rarely seen far out at sea. It is a bold, opportunistic feeder that scavenges in towns or takes invertebrates in ploughed fields, and is noisy at colonies.