Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
Slightly smaller than Herring Gulls, with more rounded head, large eye, and solid black bill. Bill smaller, with only a slight bulge at gonys. Upperparts frosty, feathers of back, scapulars, and upperwing coverts with limited, medium-brown interiors and very broad white edging. Tertials had medium brown bases but were otherwise extensively mottled, with limited brownish mottling and extensive white on the distal 2/3 of the tertials. On closed wing, primaries appeared slightly paler than on some of the Herring Gulls, but they were dark brown, not blackish, and when the wing was spread only slightly (i.e., when the bird was preening or in flight), it was obvious that the inner webs were much paler than the outer webs. All primaries had narrow pale edging, broadest at the tip. In flight, primaries were much paler overall on the upper-surface than they appeared on the folded wing. The "hand" had a striped appearance due to the contrast between the pale inner webs and darker outer webs, and overall the upperwing was much paler than that of any Herring Gull. Inner primaries very pale, gradually darkening outward (i.e., from p1 to p10). All the upper-primary and upper-secondary coverts and the mantle appeared very pale on the spread wing, with a moderately contrasting (darker) secondary bar. Secondaries also had a "striped" appearance, with darker outer webs and paler inner webs. Whitish undersides to primaries. Most of the tail a more or less solid medium brown subterminal band, about the same shade as the primaries (or perhaps slightly paler). Terminal band paler, with some mottling. Fairly extensive pale mottling at bases of all rectrices, with the outer rectrices being more white than brown.
Technical information
- Dimensions
- 2188 pixels x 2356 pixels
- Original file size
- 249.88 KB