Long-term banding, wing-marker and retrapping data from one stable Great Lakes colony were used to establish whether or not Ring-billed Gulls exhibit a preference for colony sites at the time of first breeding or during subsequent years. About 13% of the adults captured were banded previously, of which 69% had returned to the natal colony. When calculated on the basis of banding year survivorship, the return rate ranged between 19 and 33%. Immigrants came primarily from colonies within a 64-km area. Of the 436 Ring-bills captured that had been banded as adults, 90% had returned to the colony of previous nesting. In addition, 60% of the wing-marked gulls nested for at least 2 years at Rogers City. The tendency to return to the natal colony is not well defined at this colony, but colony site tenacity after first breeding is well developed. Variability exists in data for less stable colonies, as birds are forced to move by high water levels or other environmental factors.