Gull by call, Warsaw, Poland, yesterday (2 Viewers)

[01101001]

It was a Larus gull for sure, and not a Common Gull. The call that drew my attention was a very distinctive nasal 'EH'. BirdNET suggested Lesser Black-backed Gull with rather low confidence, but when I listened to its calls, they sounded spot on. The gull was flying away already when I managed to press the record button, so the calls are trailing away a bit. Thanks in advance!

BTW, is gulling by ear even a thing (and what about the calls of hybrids, particularly Herring x Caspian Gull)?

 

[Butty]

...Lesser Black-backed Gull with rather low confidence, but when I listened to its calls, they sounded spot on

That's not how ID works. What you have to know is that other confusion species do not make that call.

 

[01101001]

Yes, that's right. I meant to ask whether the 'eh' call is distinctive enough (whether there are not any similar--perhaps lesser known--calls made by other species). I checked Caspian and Herring Gulls. I neglected to check YLG and Med Gull. Shame on me because YLG and Med Gull sound much like my recording. So, good point.

Let me focus on my second question then: is it viable to seperate Larus gulls on call down to species level? At least, do people try, for example, to pick out lone gulls of another species from a flock on sound (to be later confirmed visually)?

 

[jurek]

I cannot be sure it is not a Herring Gull.

Let me focus on my second question then: is it viable to seperate Larus gulls on call down to species level? At least, do people try, for example, to pick out lone gulls of another species from a flock on sound (to be later confirmed visually)?

I do I picked many times a Mediterranean Gull in a colony of Black-headed by call, although the well-known Med Gull call is very similar to one of Common Gull calls.

Many calls of Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls are clearly different from Herring. Not only the so-called long call (long cascade of sounds of large white-headed gulls), but most calls of Caspian are lower than Herring. Note also, that juvenile large gulls have different calls than adults. However, I cannot vouch that the differences are constant and sufficient to ID a large gull on call (or even the long call).

You found a hole in the heavily covered field of European bird Identification! Birdwatchers studying calls study songbirds, owls etc, and those specialized in gulls look at plumage but not calls. Olsen and Larsson et al. book has basic and partially completely mistaking descriptions of calls. Hopefully somebody picks it up and makes a study on it.

 

[fdokykcu]

Let me focus on my second question then: is it viable to seperate Larus gulls on call down to species level? At least, do people try, for example, to pick out lone gulls of another species from a flock on sound (to be later confirmed visually)?

You may find interesting the section devoted to some big gulls in Western Europe in this "The sound approach" chapter: https://soundapproach.co.uk/put-it-all-together-and-what-have-you-got/ (search down for "Gull long calls")

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello,
I don't know if this helpful, but your recording doesn't sound like a Med Gull to me.
But please note the usual caveats

 

[01101001]

Thanks all for your very helpful answers.

Alexander, you're right in saying it couldn't have been a Mediterranean Gull because I clearly saw its stout yellow bill (sorry again!), but, yes, I won't commit any further.