Skimmers, noddies, terns and gulls | Laridae

Meeuwen, sterns en schaarbekken | Gaviotas, charranes y rayadores

Three fully webbed front toes and a small, raised hind toe: these birds can rest on the water, and salt glands above the eyes let them drink sea water as well. Two builds stand side by side within the family: heavier birds with a stout, slightly hooked bill that will eat almost anything they can get hold of, and slighter birds with a thin, pointed bill held downwards while hovering, before they drop into the water. They nest almost always in ground colonies, with one to three blotched eggs; the downy chicks stay at the nest and are fed by both parents, unlike the self-feeding young of the waders. Most species moult twice a year and show a different head pattern in winter, and in the largest species it takes two to four years before the adult plumage is complete.