Tanager 101 Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Seen at Whiting Overlook in Michigan Sunday. I first spotted this gull with a dark back. It looked fairly large and I got a quick photo out our car window and went to get a closer look. Must have taken off because I wasn't able to find it again. Pretty sure the nearby gulls are Ring-billed, which is why I go lesser based on size. I do agknowledge the fact that this could just be a darker looking Herring or something. I will say that while birding in the field the dark back stood out from the other gulls at a large distance (probably roughly a football field away), so I don't think it is the lighting. It was quite cloudy that day too and very windy. Photo 3 is a better look at the other gulls after I lost track of the darker one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipperatl Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Photo 3 does not contain the gull you are wanting ID'ed? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanager 101 Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 2 minutes ago, chipperatl said: Photo 3 does not contain the gull you are wanting ID'ed? Correct I do not believe it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipperatl Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 1 minute ago, Tanager 101 said: Correct I do not believe it does. I'd be worried this is related to the angle the bird is at. I've stopped many a scan of gull flocks because 1 bird was turned 10-20 degrees different than the rest. It made them look darker. I would be interested in others thoughts also, but it doesn't seem dark enough to me. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanager 101 Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 3 minutes ago, chipperatl said: I'd be worried this is related to the angle the bird is at. I've stopped many a scan of gull flocks because 1 bird was turned 10-20 degrees different than the rest. It made them look darker. I would be interested in others thoughts also, but it doesn't seem dark enough to me. Thanks! I have considered that too. Most of the time it is related to the photo causing the bird to look darker. It definitely looked darker to me in person when I saw it in the field. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWM Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 From these photos, it appears a little too light gray for Lesser Black-back, but it's hard to judge light conditions from a photo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKLland Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 It might be LBBG, but I wouldn’t call it based on these photos. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meghann Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 I think it's a Herring, particularly if you look at photo 3, one of the Ring-bills is turned in a way that it looks as dark as the gull in question in the first photo. Light is a funny thing. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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