are any of these lesser black backed gulls (1 Viewer)

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tom baxter

Well-known member

• May 28, 2014

• #1

Cape may NJ USA

In the field I initially thought the one in the foreground was a lesser black backed, and after looking closer at the photos I think the one in the back right might be as well. I was trying to go by bill size and overall size since I am miserable at judging color patterns on gulls for some reason.

 

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lou salomon

the birdonist

• May 28, 2014

• #2

5 GBBG (4 x 2cy and 1 x 3cy) plus indeed a 2cy LBBG, rightmost bird.

 

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DarkFireFalcon

Well-known member

• May 28, 2014

• #3

All of these gulls, including the one in the back right, look to be 1st cycle Great Black-backed Gulls to me. The bills are just too heavy for Lesser Black-backed. Actually, the one in the foreground looks be a 2nd cycle, while the rest are probably 1st cycle..

Were you able to read the bands on the front gull? Its probably one of the Appledore Island banded gulls, and they welcome reports of resights: http://gullsofappledore.wordpress.com/


EDIT: Cross posted with Lou. I'll concede to his knowledge on gulls, but why is it a LBBG? Isn't that bill a little heavy, despite the difference in size? Also, 2nd cy (calendar year) is the same as first 1st cycle, because aging terminology is confusing as possible.

 

Last edited: May 28, 2014

lou salomon

the birdonist

• May 28, 2014

• #4

the more uniform brown upperparts, slender built and strikingly smaller size should be enough to make it an LBBG, darkfire. bill looks a bit stronger as it is due to blur.

 

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tom baxter

Well-known member

• May 28, 2014

• #5

Thanks for the help, I REALLY need to get better at seeing details in gulls. It is the one category that I feel like I am awful at judging.

And Darkfire, I unfortunately was unable to read the bands. The photos were quite distant and I did not even realize there were bands until I reviewed them.

 

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MacNara

Well-known member

• May 29, 2014

• #6

tom baxter said:

I unfortunately was unable to read the bands. The photos were quite distant and I did not even realize there were bands until I reviewed them.

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The band in the picture seems to read (from the bottom up): 0T4, or possibly 0I4 due to blurring). The 4 is quite clear anyway. Someone might know how to identify this.

 

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tom baxter

Well-known member

• May 29, 2014

• #7

I have other pictures but none are conclusive in my eyes... I had OY4.

 

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M

MacNara

Well-known member

• May 29, 2014

• #8

tom baxter said:

I have other pictures but none are conclusive in my eyes... I had OY4.

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Looking again, I think you might be right - taking blurring into account, it could even be 0X4.

I don't know much about this kind of stuff, but it's not just the number, but the colour and the type of bird it's on that can pin it down, I believe. I had a photo a few weeks ago where the code was clear, and someone on these threads was able to tell me exactly who I should report it to. But the person/group who put on the band will know what the numbering possibilities are, and so it may not need to be as clear as all that. That's why I thought it was worth pointing out.

Maybe someone will come along who knows where this should go, or maybe there is a US gull website which you could ask?

 

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tom baxter

Well-known member

• May 29, 2014

• #9

I reported it to the posted link above, thanks for the suggestion.

 

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MacNara

Well-known member

• May 29, 2014

• #10

tom baxter said:

I reported it to the posted link above, thanks for the suggestion.

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Looking at the photos with the link, the Appledore bands appear to be green, so perhaps it isn't that, but since they are in the business they will probably be aware of whose band it is, I guess.

 

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DarkFireFalcon

Well-known member

• May 29, 2014

• #11

The Herring Gull bands are green, the GBBG bands are black.

 

M

MacNara

Well-known member

• May 29, 2014

• #12

DarkFireFalcon said:

The Herring Gull bands are green, the GBBG bands are black.

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Great. I've never done any of this banding stuff, but I guess most of the banded birds are never heard of again, so it must be rewarding for the people doing the research to get this feedback.