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Possible Vagrant Ring-billed Gull or Common Gull? Warsaw, Poland. (1 Viewer)

LaughingDove

LaughingDove

Well-known member
I think it's probably a Common Gull, but I just have a slight doubt that it possibly could be a vagrant Ring-billed Gull. The bird was quite far away in very overcast conditions so it's a heavy crop but I hope it's clear enough to be seen.
 

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Looks like a Common Gull. Sometimes they have a dark ring on the bill. The dark band on Ring-billed is normally more obvious than this. Also, the eye seems dark and there is a broad white 'tertial crescent' between the grey of the wings and the black wing tip. Those are both pro-Common Gull features.
 
Ok, thanks for the help.
A bit unusual to see a common gull this early in the year, but I've been seeing a few things earlier than usual.
 
aeshna5 said:
But even more unusual for a Ring-billed Gull in Poland!
Click to expand...

Not that unusual.
I believe there have been three Ring-billed Gulls recorded in Poland this winter with the last one some time in January which is a fair few considering how relatively sparsely-birded Poland is.
 
LaughingDove said:
Not that unusual.
I believe there have been three Ring-billed Gulls recorded in Poland this winter with the last one some time in January which is a fair few considering how relatively sparsely-birded Poland is.
Click to expand...

Hmmm . . . what can one trust?! Collins Bird Guide, Olsen's Gulls, and BWP Concise all map Common Gull as a widespread resident in Poland (and/or the adjacent southern Baltic Sea). Are they all wrong?
 
Nutcracker said:
Hmmm . . . what can one trust?! Collins Bird Guide, Olsen's Gulls, and BWP Concise all map Common Gull as a widespread resident in Poland (and/or the adjacent southern Baltic Sea). Are they all wrong?
Click to expand...

You're misinterpreting my comment. I'm not doubting that a Common Gull is much more likely than a Ring-billed Gull, and if you read my original post, it says "I think it's probably a Common Gull, but I just have a slight doubt that it possibly could be a vagrant Ring-billed Gull" but I was just pointing out that a Ring-billed Gull is not totally unreasonable around Warsaw.
 
LaughingDove said:
You're misinterpreting my comment. I'm not doubting that a Common Gull is much more likely than a Ring-billed Gull, and if you read my original post, it says "I think it's probably a Common Gull, but I just have a slight doubt that it possibly could be a vagrant Ring-billed Gull" but I was just pointing out that a Ring-billed Gull is not totally unreasonable around Warsaw.
Click to expand...

In my book Laughing Dove....anything is possible. :t:
 
LaughingDove said:
You're misinterpreting my comment. I'm not doubting that a Common Gull is much more likely than a Ring-billed Gull, and if you read my original post, it says "I think it's probably a Common Gull, but I just have a slight doubt that it possibly could be a vagrant Ring-billed Gull" but I was just pointing out that a Ring-billed Gull is not totally unreasonable around Warsaw.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but I guess I really should have quoted the first note:
LaughingDove said:
Ok, thanks for the help.
A bit unusual to see a common gull this early in the year, but I've been seeing a few things earlier than usual.
Click to expand...

Which is a bit at odds with the maps in the books which hint that the species "should be" widespread and abundant all winter - which it clearly isn't, from your observations! Lou S has mentioned elsewhere that these maps are not very accurate :t:
 
Nutcracker said:
Perhaps, but I guess I really should have quoted the first note:


Which is a bit at odds with the maps in the books which hint that the species "should be" widespread and abundant all winter - which it clearly isn't, from your observations! Lou S has mentioned elsewhere that these maps are not very accurate :t:
Click to expand...

At the coast maybe, but the Collins Bird Guide map shows it as a year-round resident some way inland from the coast but certainly not all through the country and the Handbook of Birds of the World map http://www.hbw.com/species/mew-gull-larus-canus shows it as a winter visitor at the coast and a breeding visitor to different sites inland during the summer.

The distribution described by the HBW map is what I have seen in my experience.
 
LaughingDove said:
At the coast maybe, but the Collins Bird Guide map shows it as a year-round resident some way inland from the coast but certainly not all through the country and the Handbook of Birds of the World map http://www.hbw.com/species/mew-gull-larus-canus shows it as a winter visitor at the coast and a breeding visitor to different sites inland during the summer.

The distribution described by the HBW map is what I have seen in my experience.
Click to expand...
Thanks! An interesting difference from Britain, where in winter, they are commoner inland than on the coast.
 
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