ML632638845

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On 3-20-2025, I found this very dark 1st cycle gull on the beach at Daytona Beach Shores, Florida. I have been puzzling over it for the last couple of days. It appears to be an Azores Gull - the Azorean Island form of Yellow-legged Gull, Larus michahellis atlantis. It is similar to a dark 1st cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull but was much darker with a dark warm brown tone. The plumage was very plain with virtually unmarked greater coverts and very little markings on the remaining coverts. The scapulars had large dark centers and had a rather messy look. The wings were very dark including the inner webs of the inner primaries. The wing linings were also very dark and only faintly barred. The legs had dark barring on the shins. The flanks had black and white barring all the way to the tops of the legs. Overall, the bird was nearly as large as an adjacent Herring Gull and seemed shorter winged and less attenuated. All these features seem extreme for the much more likely Lesser Black-backed Gull and more in line with Azores Gull. Azorean Gull expert Peter Adriaens replied with the following: Peter Adriaens Top contributor Hi Michael, in my opinion this looks very good for a 1c atlantis. See https://gull-research.org/.../pap.../DB42_5_303-334_2020.pdf. This would be the first confirmed record of this taxon (and this plumage) in N America, I think? There have been several suspected (or assumed) atlantis in Newfoundland, but this one is the first that ticks all the boxes.