There are a grand total of 14 species of bird on The British List with the word Little as their first name (or 15 if you call Barolo Shearwater, Little Shearwater). See if you can name them all*! They are, of course, named for being among the smaller members of their group of birds. In the case of the Little Gull, it certainly justifies the name, being the smallest of all the gulls (being only 25-30cm in length). And size is an important ID criteria, as being tiny makes Little Gulls relatively easy to pick out from other gulls.
[*Little Grebe, Little Bittern, Little Egret, Little Bustard, Little Crake, Little Ringed Plover Little Whimbrel, Little Stint, Little Gull, Little Tem, Little Auk, Little Owl, Little Swift, Little Bunting]…
