-
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.
Barnegat,NJ,USA 2018-3, Some Gull (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter and_475
- Start date
Birdbrain22
Well-known member
Herring Gull there. As far as field Guide... Sibley's or Stokes is a good general bird guide. Most gulls can be ID from those. If you want a specialized Gull guide, hopefully someone else can help you there.
RafaelMatias
Unknown member
American Herring Gull.
As for specialized Gull books that cover North American species you have the following main options:
1 - "The Bible": Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America (Helm Identification Guides)
2 - Covering North and South American species: Peterson Reference Guides to Gulls of the Americas
3 - All gull species of the World (same author as the 1st book above), in a more concise style: Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide
As said above, the more general field guides are usually enough for ID purposes, but if you have a special interest in gulls I'd certainly suggest one of the above.
As for documenting gulls photographically for later ID you should always get shots (whenever possible, of course) of the following:
- full bird
- close up of the head (full side view)
- close up of the wing tips
- open wing shots from above and below
- open tail shot
Having photos of these features will enable you to ID any gull species. If that's not possible, a photo of the full bird is preferable than a partial one. Also, getting other birds/gulls in the same photo might help in some cases.
Have fun!
As for specialized Gull books that cover North American species you have the following main options:
1 - "The Bible": Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America (Helm Identification Guides)
2 - Covering North and South American species: Peterson Reference Guides to Gulls of the Americas
3 - All gull species of the World (same author as the 1st book above), in a more concise style: Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide
As said above, the more general field guides are usually enough for ID purposes, but if you have a special interest in gulls I'd certainly suggest one of the above.
As for documenting gulls photographically for later ID you should always get shots (whenever possible, of course) of the following:
- full bird
- close up of the head (full side view)
- close up of the wing tips
- open wing shots from above and below
- open tail shot
Having photos of these features will enable you to ID any gull species. If that's not possible, a photo of the full bird is preferable than a partial one. Also, getting other birds/gulls in the same photo might help in some cases.
Have fun!
Last edited:
