Bird
Bonaparte's Gull
Chroicocephalus philadelphia
A winter visitor to Virginia, found in all 133 counties and cities and 8 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 8

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 8
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 8
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.



Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Other habitats in its models (34)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Winter.
- Louisiana Beach Winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Winter.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
Seasons in Virginia
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 74 of 133 counties and cities.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 81 of 133 counties and cities.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 117
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Common WaxmyrtleMorella cerifera
- SwitchgrassPanicum virgatum
- Groundsel-treeBaccharis halimifolia
- Shoreline SedgeCarex hyalinolepis
- Creeping SpikerushEleocharis fallax
- Estuary PipewortEriocaulon parkeri
- Bigleaf Marsh-elderIva frutescens
- Rice CutgrassLeersia oryzoides
- Welsh MudwortLimosella australis
- Marsh SeedboxLudwigia palustris
- Dotted SmartweedPersicaria punctata
- Dwarf ArrowheadSagittaria subulata
- Saltmarsh CordgrassSpartina alterniflora
- Saltmeadow CordgrassSpartina patens
- Sensitive JointvetchAeschynomene virginica
- ButtonbushCephalanthus occidentalis
- Twig-rushCladium mariscoides
- Seashore SaltgrassDistichlis spicata
- Dwarf SpikerushEleocharis parvula
- Beaked SpikerushEleocharis rostellata
- Swamp RosemallowHibiscus moscheutos
- Shore QuillwortIsoetes riparia
- Black NeedlerushJuncus roemerianus
- Narrowleaf Pond-lilyNuphar sagittifolia
Wildlife 219
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Virginia. Not sighting records.
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreus
- Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleuca
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- King RailRallus elegans
- Least TernSternula antillarum
- Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Piping PloverCharadrius melodus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- RedheadAythya americana
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
- Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
- Black SkimmerRynchops niger
- Brown PelicanPelecanus occidentalis
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Bonaparte's Gull
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)






































