Black-billed Gull

Chroicocephalus bulleri, the tarāpuka, is an endemic gull breeding chiefly on South Island braided rivers. It differs from red-billed gull through its slender black bill, paler wings and often dark legs. Adults are white with a very pale grey back, black bill and whitish eye. Young birds show darker bill tips and mottled wing markings.

Most breeding colonies occupy braided rivers of Canterbury, Otago and Southland. Birds disperse to lakes, farmland and coasts outside breeding. They take aquatic insects, worms, small fish and other invertebrates. Colonies shift as river channels and islands change.

The New Zealand classification is Declining. The Ashley Rakahuri River and lower Waitaki catchment offer seasonal opportunities from appropriate distances.