• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

larger Gull - Dakhla Westersn Sahara (1 Viewer)

motlugens

Member
larger Gull - Dakhla Western Sahara

dear friends,
I observed this larger Gull (I found it larger than most of Larus fuscus present) at Dakhla peninsula on March 3rd 2018. I took 2 pictures before we had to move on and now I want to have your opinion about its ID
thank you,
patric
luxembourg
 

Attachments

  • Gull 3.01.2018 Dakhla pL (2).JPG
    Gull 3.01.2018 Dakhla pL (2).JPG
    234.4 KB · Views: 125
  • Gull 3.01.2018 Dakhla pL (1).JPG
    Gull 3.01.2018 Dakhla pL (1).JPG
    224 KB · Views: 191
If you believe the gull was relatively large then I can tell you we have a few resident kelp gull a little further south from Dakhla in Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania which disperse as far south as Nouakchott.

With the same caveat that I rarely have the courage to talk about gulls with experts around but the mantle of young kelp gulls is relatively dark and I am not really seeing that. And I am not sure the bill looks heavy enough either. The only times I have had the courage to identify a kelp gull is if it has been side by side with a lesser black backed gull for direct comparison.
 
Where are you Lou, when we need you? I'm usually quite crappy with immature gulls and only want to bump this thread a bit. The less least likely candidate I can think of is Yellow-legged Gull...
 
hy,
to me, it was not large enough to be a candidate for Great Black-backed or Kelp Gull, if I had to choose I would go for a Yellow-legged Gull, but ...
thanks
patric
 
sorry guys. had a brief look on it 2 days ago but decided it was too difficult/odd to comment in a rush.
now that i'm a bit more relaxed i immediately perceived that it actually is a 1st cycle bird (not 2nd cycle as it looks on a superficial view) - note worn juvenile primary tips. so there is hardly room for any other ID than michahellis with that almost complete plumage of 2nd generation feathers, some scaps might even be 3rd generation. i guess this is due to heavy wear under the tropical sun, triggering a more complete moult. so, YLG it ought to be.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top