chipperatl Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 I'm assuming what I have here are an advanced 3rd Winter/cycle Herring Gull (still has ring on the bill, but complete adult plumage) and one that is a bit behind. The second one really struck me as I'm not used to a juvie Herring Gull having such clean wings underneath. _91A6306.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr _91A6444.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr _91A6409.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr _91A6446.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr _91A6475.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr _91A6481.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr _91A6500.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr Also wondering if this fairly clean-headed, dark bill, looks slightly smaller than HERG could be a juvie Lesser Black-backed Gull. I seem to see a lot of fairly clean headed juvenile HERG that I want to try to make into GBBG, but this one is smaller. _91A6655.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egosnell2002 Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 The first one is a surprisingly a Ring-bill as well, leg colour confirms that. The other gull looks fine as Herring, but a location might help... The last looks good as a Lesser Black-backed, but it's hard from that photo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipperatl Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 14 minutes ago, egosnell2002 said: The first one is a surprisingly a Ring-bill as well, leg colour confirms that. The other gull looks fine as Herring, but a location might help... The last looks good as a Lesser Black-backed, but it's hard from that photo. Sorry I usually put my location in the title. SW Michigan. That is the oddest, biggest RBGU I’ve ever seen. I think I cropped out a nearby HERG, cause it seemed really closer in size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egosnell2002 Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 1 minute ago, chipperatl said: Sorry I usually put my location in the title. SW Michigan. That is the oddest, biggest RBGU I’ve ever seen. I think I cropped out a nearby HERG, cause it seemed really closer in size. I know what you mean. It was hurting my head for a while, but usually leg colour doesn't lie. I've seen Ring-bills with big bills before, so it's probably just a variation thing. But yeah, even structurally the head looks quite Herring-y. I stick with Ring-bill pretty strongly, especially since the bird in front of it seems to show a lot of similar traits, and it seems like an obvious Ring-bill to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akiley Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 1) I guess is a Ring-billed, but I agree that the structure looks very Herring-like. @egosnell2002 I can’t seem to pick up leg color on it as you mentioned 2) Looks okay for Herring 3) Probably LBBG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipperatl Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 @akiley @egosnell2002 I found a pic where he had part of his leg out of the water. It looks kind of like the in-between greenish-pink leg color. I see in the Gulls simplified some 2nd year sub-adults with similar structure. Definitely a new look for me. Every RBGU I've seen has that small nearly round head. _91A6318.jpg by chipperatl2, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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