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Mediterranean gull, Gran Canaria? (1 Viewer)

BirdingRob

Brit abroad
Seen yesterday at Maspalomas.

I can't make it into anything other than a Mediterranean gull. If something else then what please.

All help gratefully received as ever.

Rob
 

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Forgive my ignorance Tom; would 1cy not be a bird which had been hatched last year and is now entering it's 1st full calendar year? That was always my understanding but it may explain why I keep getting funny looks at the local gull roost...
 
Forgive my ignorance Tom; would 1cy not be a bird which had been hatched last year and is now entering it's 1st full calendar year? That was always my understanding but it may explain why I keep getting funny looks at the local gull roost...

calendar year is quite a terrible age class, as everything changes 1st of january and all first cy (hatch year) become second cy though they look identical. Juvenile and first winter may be the better choice. And do not look to the US, again completely different age classes. And in other climate zones or in southern hemisphere cy is not a good choice anyway
 
...though in the case of gulls, juv. plumage lasts a very short time and from late summer/autumn they are usually classed as 1st winter birds, or 1st cycle ;)

Except, I gather, Glauc & Iceland, which retain true juvenile plumage until the spring? So some say, anyway.
 
calendar year is quite a terrible age class, as everything changes 1st of january and all first cy (hatch year) become second cy though they look identical.

Could easily have a winter Woodpigeon or Crossbill nest where one chick hatched on 31 Dec and its sibling on 1 Jan; they'd look identical, but one would be 2cy and the other 1cy 3:)

Though rare here, this scenario must be very common for southern hemisphere birds.
 
Could easily have a winter Woodpigeon or Crossbill nest where one chick hatched on 31 Dec and its sibling on 1 Jan; they'd look identical, but one would be 2cy and the other 1cy 3:)

Though rare here, this scenario must be very common for southern hemisphere birds.

Yep, it happens with e.g. Black-browed Albatrosses, for example. Most BBA hatch in December, but some very few hatch on the first days of Jan. So most BBA are in their 2nd cal year at the time of fledging (around beginning of April), but some are still in the 1st cal year :t: Not very useful for Southern Hemisphere birds...
 
Could easily have a winter Woodpigeon or Crossbill nest where one chick hatched on 31 Dec and its sibling on 1 Jan; they'd look identical, but one would be 2cy and the other 1cy 3:)

Though rare here, this scenario must be very common for southern hemisphere birds.

I've noticed a lot of breeding in Albertine mountains in Uganda in December, so actually for Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher or Regal Sunbird, it is a common scenario!
 
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