This is an adult in non-breeding plumage showing yellow legs, and pale eye with reddish orange orbital ring. Its relatively pale-mantle suggests "L. f. graelesii" which normally winters south to West Africa. Note the heavily worn secondaries and tail typical of their late seasonal molt. The broad red spot on its mandible, relatively small delicate bill, and smudgy face help distinguish this gull from "L. f. heuglini" of northwest Russia and adjacent Finland. Heuglin's is sometimes split as a separate species called "Siberian Gull" by some authors. Winter "heuglini" usually has head streaking confined to the nape, molts earlier and takes only three years to mature while "graelesii" takes four. Lesser Black-backed Gull has increased markedly in North America over the last several decades. First recorded in North America in New Jersey, 9 September 1934, they increased dramatically in the late 1980s. They are no longer considered noteworthy along the East Coast in Winter. Breeding in North America is suspected, but no nests have yet been found other than mixed pairs with Herring Gull along the coast of Maine.
