One different seagull amongst many (1 Viewer)

fredyr · Dec 9, 2003

Came across a lot of seagulls near the sea in Tel Aviv and only one had a black face.
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1717288&a=30967519&p=65964719&f=0
Is it still the same family or another type which got lost in a recent storm. Every year the storm drives them onto the river but the sea is very close. Hope I am not wasting someone's time to let me know. Thanks in advance. Fredy Ross

Michael Frankis · Dec 9, 2003

Still no access to your epson gallery - any chance you could post the pic direct here?

Thanks,

Michael

fredyr · Dec 9, 2003

I wonder why you can't access the site. Would love to help you but I don't know how to do what you are asking. Send me an e-mail and I will send it back with the photo. If that is okay? Thanks for trying anyway.
Fredy Ross

alan_rymer · Dec 9, 2003

fredyr said:
I wonder why you can't access the site. Would love to help you but I don't know how to do what you are asking. Send me an e-mail and I will send it back with the photo. If that is okay? Thanks for trying anyway.
Fredy Ross

Fredyr
I can access your photo. So I copied it and attached it here, I also dropped the res to 640x480.
I hope you don't mind?.

Jasonbirder · Dec 9, 2003

Don`t see any reason why it isn`t just a Black-headed Gull

Jane Turner · Dec 9, 2003

Its a Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus that has left it late to adopt winter plumage

Michael Frankis · Dec 9, 2003

Thanks Alan!

Hi Fredy,

It's a Black-headed Gull. For some reason, it is in (or nearly in) summer plumage, about 2-3 months earlier than it 'should' be.

I have seen this happen before, not often though, I think just two or three times ever in all the time I've been birding. It can happen with other birds too, I once saw a Grey [Black-bellied] Plover in full summer plumage in late November.

Michael

fredyr · Dec 9, 2003

Thanks. Forgive my ignorance but what would it be doing with a flock of normal everyday seagulls? thanks Alan and I don't mind at all you making it smaller. Fredyr
(I am in Israel and it is really warm at the moment, so maybe the bird is all mixed up.

Jane Turner · Dec 9, 2003

The bird behind it is another Black-headed Gull. I think there isnt that much unsual about it being there...its just a bit confused about which clothes to wear.

Michael...there is a full Red Knot out on the beach today.

fredyr · Dec 9, 2003

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1717288&a=30967519&p=65967228&Scale=640x480
Thanks. These are the others. Does that mean they will also get black faces or the one will lose his black face as it gets colder?

Michael Frankis · Dec 9, 2003

Hi Fredy,

Hard to say whether this one has gained its summer hood too early, or is losing it too late. I guessed the former, as normally the dark brown hood starts to develop from the end of January or February (1½-2 months from now), but is usually lost in late July (about 4 months ago) - so it is closer to the summer ahead, than it is to the summer gone.

As an aside, it is normally called 'summer plumage', but 'spring plumage' would be a more accurate name.

Michael

Andrew Whitehouse · Dec 9, 2003

One really wierd thing with summer plumage Black-headed Gulls is that I reckon I see more like that early in the winter than in January time. Can't really quantify that nor explain it but if I get an 'early' one it's nearly always really early - like November time.

fredyr · Dec 9, 2003

thanks to you both. Glad you said brown Michael as I thought there was something wrong with my colour management and was trying to make it black with photoshop. I was using the Rebel 300D with a Tamron 28-300 lens so I wasn't very near the birds.
Most interesting this bird world. Fredy Ross

Michael Frankis · Dec 9, 2003

fredyr said:
Glad you said brown Michael as I thought there was something wrong with my colour management

Hi Fredy,

About the colour of a top quality chocolate bar (70% cocoa solids sort), though it can look quite a bit paler than that towards high summer (just before the autumn moult) as the hot sun bleaches it slightly

Come to think of it, that helps suggest it is a new hood acquired early, rather than the last of the old, as the last of the old would be faded very much paler brown (almost to café-au-lait).

Michael

sheryl · Dec 11, 2003

"Hard to say whether this one has gained its summer hood too early, or is losing it too late."

I believe the answer is neither of the above. Such birds are not that infrequently sen in some areas. The evidence suggests that the dark head feathers are grown during the post-breeding moult. Therefore such birds are probably wearing breeding type plumage year round, they do not develop a non-breeding pattern in winter. The individual variations in head patterning in winter plumage hooded gulls are quite wide so it it is to be expected that some will wear a more summer like winter plumage.

The fact that such birds are not uniformly distributed throughout the species range points to the possibility that anachronistic patterning is more prevelant in some populations. It seems likely in fact that it is mainly western and southern populations that produce such birds. Such populations are the least migratory and therefore have less far to travel to return to their breeding areas. those individuals which retain 'nuptial' signals during the non-breeding season may be at some competitive advantage.

SM

Bluetail · Dec 11, 2003

sheryl said:
The evidence suggests that the dark head feathers are grown during the post-breeding moult.

What is that evidence Sheryl? I've always understood - in a sort of urban legend way - that black heads in winter were due to the bird undertaking it's head moult at an early date whilst still in breeding condition. But I don't know whether there's any data behind that.

Jason

gossypots · Dec 7, 2007

Do all Black headed gulls lose there head colour in the winter months.I was at Pennington flash earlier today when in amongst a flock of black headed gulls in normal winter plumage was one with a fully black head.Sorry Ive no pictures but could it have been a black headed or something else.Thanks.

bitterntwisted · Dec 7, 2007

Hi Gossypots,

By far the most likely explanation is that it was, like the bird above. a black-headed gull that had not attained the usual non-breeding plumage or was late out of or early into its summer plumage. There are two other gull species with black heads that occur regularly in the UK - Little Gull and Mediterranean Gull - but these are much rarer and also lose their hoods in winter. A handful of each are seen at Pennington Flash each year, passing through in Spring and Autumn.

Graham

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