Gull Mental Note
NOTE: I swear this blog will not turn into one of those endless gull discussions, just a note on a minor breakthrough I had with my birding ability.
I had a breakthrough in my gull watching ability at Black Dog Lake Power Plant yesterday! Number 1: I enjoyed doing it yesterday and number 2: I was actually able to pick out gulls that looked different from the bazillions of herring gulls and ring-billed gulls and made tentative mental ids, and had them confirmed by both a field guide and a guy who knows WAY more about gull id than I do.
So, I'm going to post a few photos and see if you can A: pick out the gull that is different and B: can you id the gull? There's not prize, just an easy going series of photos to see if you can find the bird that is different.
The first photo will be big a big flock. The second will be a closer view (and if you are new to gull id, if you can just pick out the different gull and why--that is a triumph of the birding spirit).
Here's the first photos. I think if you click on it, you might get a larger view. Can you figure out which bird is not a herring gull or a ring-billed gull? I show it in a later entry, just see if you can mentally find it. A bigger hint will be in the next photo:
And no, it's not the duck in the front, although if you can id that bird, pat yourself on the back. So, which bird is different, why is it different, and what species is it?
More later.
I had a breakthrough in my gull watching ability at Black Dog Lake Power Plant yesterday! Number 1: I enjoyed doing it yesterday and number 2: I was actually able to pick out gulls that looked different from the bazillions of herring gulls and ring-billed gulls and made tentative mental ids, and had them confirmed by both a field guide and a guy who knows WAY more about gull id than I do.
So, I'm going to post a few photos and see if you can A: pick out the gull that is different and B: can you id the gull? There's not prize, just an easy going series of photos to see if you can find the bird that is different.
The first photo will be big a big flock. The second will be a closer view (and if you are new to gull id, if you can just pick out the different gull and why--that is a triumph of the birding spirit).
Here's the first photos. I think if you click on it, you might get a larger view. Can you figure out which bird is not a herring gull or a ring-billed gull? I show it in a later entry, just see if you can mentally find it. A bigger hint will be in the next photo:
And no, it's not the duck in the front, although if you can id that bird, pat yourself on the back. So, which bird is different, why is it different, and what species is it?More later.
posted by birdchick at 10:13 AM
16 Comments:
Could it be a Thayer's Gull? The one right beyond the duck.
There are indeed some pale wingtips in there that should raise some flags...
A Common Merganser! In other words, your gull skills are apparently better than mine.
Jeff C, Kansas
Holy crap, I suck at gull ID! And here I thought all my time living on the Alaskan coast might have helped me even a little.
Bah! I give up.
I think i will agree and say Thayer's Gull behind the Common Merganser
First and foremost, congrats on forcing yourself into the gull frontier. I've been trying to do the same myself lately.
With regards to the gull: Seems like a first cycle gull (no solid grey on back), and N8 pointed out those pale wingtips which immediately narrow it down to three species to me - Glaucous, Iceland, and Thayer's. Given that it's next to some Herring Gulls and it's just about the same size, we can rule out Glaucous right away. Immature Iceland gulls strike me as being overall lighter (and have a more delicate bill). This bird seems to have the more "brown" color noted in field guides for Thayer's as well as being a bit bulkier than Iceland. So I am joining the "Thayer's Gull" camp.
Having read the other comments, I see I'm way out of my league, but I'll stick with my original thought:
In the second, closer photo, it's the browner speckley one just behind the duck.
And I did ID the duck. I would even go so far as to say Boy Duck.
It looks like a Common Merganser male to me
Better gulls than underpants.
I'll preface my comments by saying that I'm certainly no gull expert, but I'm going go against the grain here.
A first winter Thayer's Gull should have darker wingtips than this bird. It is hard to say from the photo, but the primaries do not look too dark to me.
I agree that we can rule out Glaucous but not based on size. A first winter Glaucous has a distinctive bill that looks like it was dipped in ink. There is a very clean division between pink and black. This bird's bill looks dark for the most part, and may get lighter near the base. But in any case it is not a Glaucous Gull bill.
So that only leaves one possibility: South Polar Skua! Wait, not really. But it's a nice thought.
I would like to vote for Iceland Gull in this case. But I would also leave open the possibility that this is a Herring Gull of questionable ancestry. It does bear some resemblance to the picture in Sibley of a Glaucous-Winged/Herring hybrid. I'm not sure how often hybrid gulls show up in the upper midwest. Out here in California the gull populations are so in-bred that it is difficult to sort out much of anything with certainty.
Andy - Newark, CA
Go, Andy!
The bird is an Iceland gull...at least, that's what the local experts are calling it.
Hey
and good job to everyone who gave it a shot and picked up on the bird that was different from the rest.
And kudos to those who got the common merganser.
Gulls. Ew. After reading everyone else's comments I even pulled out my Sibley's and squinted at the various gull plates before giving up in frustration. Unless it's a lovely, clean adult, I haven't got a prayer.
At least I knew the Common Merganser.
Gulls. Ugh.
Common Merganser - sweet duck.
Think I'm bigoted? You're right!
~Kathi, whose eyes glaze over when confronted by flocks of white(ish) birds
I would say it's a Kumlien's Iceland.
Steller's Sea Eagle
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