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Gulls in Japan 1 (1 Viewer)

Motmot

Motmot

Eduardo Amengual
These pics were taken on Jan 29th. Location is Enoshima Island, south of Tokyo.
Among a resting/preening mixed flock of gulls, quite a few looked typical Vega Gulls to me but this one standed out as a very white headed one, showing only sparse thin markings around the rear neck. Could it be a Mongolian Gull?
 

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Thanks Gerben. Those were my thoughts at the time, another Vega this time with an almost white head, but what do I know about asian gulls? o:D
 
I hope someone more knowledgeable drops by soon, i'm not overly convinced myself.


I've only had the luck of seeing Slaty-backed and the smaller gulls there, no herring type. Maybe next time.

cheers,
G
 
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I would call this a Vega Gull. We found considerable variation in head color and markings when we visited Japan in early February last year. My photos and analysis are at: https://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/Japan2019/VegaGullIMG_0742.htm

Comparison with American Herring Gulls the same day: https://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/Japan2019/AmericanHerringGullIMG_1146.htm

Mongolian Gulls were not at all common on our visit and we did not encounter any adults. Photos of first cycle birds here: https://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/Japan2019/MongolianGullIMG_1674.htm

There is a pretty good book in Japanese on gull identification by Ujihara & Ujihara. I was able to order it from amazon.co.jp.
 
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