ML116473151

Age and sex

Immature Unknown sex - X

Media notes

Laughing Gull

Observation details

The 1st-winter Laughing Gull (LAGU) was flying among a ring-billed gulls and Franklin’s Gulls (FRGU) that comprised a several hundred meter long raft of closely spaced birds. The LAGU was larger and had longer and narrower wings that the FRGU. The photos of FRGUs illustrate the shorter and broader wings than those of the LAGU. The LAGU was staying outside the raft of gulls and occasionally diving to the water, taking off again and occasionally staying on the water for several minutes. The raft was several hundred meters out in the Thomas Hill Lake and we were on Parking Lot D – Gull Point. The LAGU was first spotted by Paul McKenzie and Pete and I quickly located it in the scopes. The long narrow wings had black outer wings and a lighter grayish-brown inner wing. There was a 1 inch to 1-1/2 inch black sub-terminal band on the all of the tail rectrices including the outer rectrices. There was a narrow, terminal, white band at the distal end of the tail. The bill appeared all black, but it was hard to see more on the bill at that distance. There was a smudge of dark between the eyes around the upper nape. The under-wing is relatively dark in the outer wing and lighter on the inner wing. There were no light windows in the dark area of the outer wings. The many Franklin’s gulls and ring-billed gulls were easily observed in close proximity to the LAGU as it flew around the raft and along the shoreline. I have included Franklin’s and Ring-billed gulls in a similar cycle under there species so comparisons can be seen within the checklist.

Technical information

Dimensions

293 pixels x 292 pixels

Original file size

7.66 KB