(Common) Gull, Nara Japan (1 Viewer)

MacNara · Dec 21, 2014

I saw this gull today over our local pond. I think it has to be Common Gull, but if someone could confirm, I'd be grateful.

I don't have a dedicated gull book, but the black-ish collar doesn't appear in the Japan books, including the photo book, that I have (but it doesn't appear for anything else, either). Is this collar a winter or an age feature?

Thanks for any comments.

lou salomon · Dec 21, 2014

it's within variation of basic plumage of kamtchatka gull. the bird has no immaturity signs so it's an adult. in some the collar is very accentuated.

MacNara · Dec 21, 2014

Thank you very much Lou.

And in case we don't communicate again this year: thanks for your help at various times; best wishes for the holiday season; and have a great 2015!

PS Actually, I've just noticed that we are supposed to get heinei in Japan, so I suppose this is a little unusual.

Nutcracker · Dec 21, 2014

MacNara said:
PS Actually, I've just noticed that we are supposed to get heinei in Japan, so I suppose this is a little unusual.

Going by Olsen's Gulls, it's L. c. kamtschatschensis that winters in Japan; some kamtschatschensis also on the east coast of China "together with easternmost heinei" - suggests heinei don't cross the Sea of Japan (or maybe only do so rarely).

neilcd21 · Dec 21, 2014

Nutcracker said:
Going by Olsen's Gulls, it's L. c. kamtschatschensis that winters in Japan; some kamtschatschensis also on the east coast of China "together with easternmost heinei" - suggests heinei don't cross the Sea of Japan (or maybe only do so rarely).

Because juv heinei appear to moult much earlier than kamtschatschensis and seem to have some consistently different features in 1stw it's possible to pick out a very small number in Osaka in early winter. Other ages are too difficult to identify with certainty because of the huge range of variability shown by kamtschatschensis.

Neil Davidson

MacNara · Dec 21, 2014

Thank you. It looks like I had misread Mark Brazil's words in Birds of East Asia. Sorry.

He says, "two races:[Kamchatka] commonest throughout NE Asia. L. c. heinei breeds east to Lena River, and occurs in China and Japan in winter".

I took this to mean that the ssp that occurs in Japan in winter was heinei, but I see that this is my misreading, and that he means 'sometimes occurs' but that it's usually Kamchatka. I don't think of Japan as NE Asia, but as E Asia. Silly me.

smiths · Dec 22, 2014

neilcd21 said:
Because juv heinei appear to moult much earlier than kamtschatschensis and seem to have some consistently different features in 1stw it's possible to pick out a very small number in Osaka in early winter. Other ages are too difficult to identify with certainty because of the huge range of variability shown by kamtschatschensis.

Neil Davidson

Other ages can be identified too, Neil (a paper is in preparation). Meanwhile, I would be interested in seeing photos of heinei candidates from Japan. Thanks.

(Common) Gull, Nara Japan (1 Viewer)

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