Sunday, October 19, 2008

Yellow-legged/Caspian Gull?



Yellow-legged/Caspian Gull?, Paxton Pits, 19th October 2008, © Jamie Wells
At first sight, the bullet-hole eye, rounded head and parallel-sided bill, make this gull look like a Caspian Gull. However, it looks a little dark and the mirror on P10 is the typical trapezoidal shape of adult Yellow-legged Gull. However, the bird is not fully adult, there is a brown smear on the tertials, so the mirror might not mean much. The bird does not exhibit the ridiculous long-winged appearance of some Caspian Gulls. Apparently there were some grey tongues protruding into the black on the primaries.
Without a view of the legs, this bird may be best left unidentified, it could even be a hybrid (RGN).

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