Bellevue Park is full of birds! Can you name them? Don’t guess too quickly – not all of these birds are what they appear to be at first glance.

Some birds that look like seagulls are actually terns. These winged cousins are often mistaken for each other. But if you know where to look, you’ll be able to see through the disguise. Seagulls are graceful fliers with long, pointed wings and webbed feet. Many of the gulls in this area have a black ring around their beaks. They are white with grey on their upper parts. Sometimes they have black feathers on their heads. Terns have very pointed wings, long forked tails, and pointed beaks. They like to dive into the water for food. The feathers on top of their heads are always dark.

Left to right: common tern, black tern, great black-backed gull, ring-billed gull, herring gull. Photos: Tony Hisgett, Dick Daniels, Dick Daniels, User:Mdf, Alan D. Wilson. Common tern: CC-BY-2.0. Herring gull: CC-BY-SA-2.5. All others CC-BY-SA-3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons