Gull, Portugal (1 Viewer)

Hello,
is this Larus fuscus (graellsii?) or L. michahellis? I'm thinking the former, as it had (the were a few of them in fact) a markedly darker mantle than the ubiquitous michahellis around. Do you agree?

Location: Lagos, Algarve, Atlantic coast of south Portugal
Date: 14.03.2018

I'd say larus fuscus intermedius - looks too dark for graellsi but not dark enough for nominate. Not michahellis. ..... but mantle colour can look very different with the light and photographic effects.

MTem said:

I'd say larus fuscus intermedius - looks too dark for graellsi but not dark enough for nominate. Not michahellis. ..... but mantle colour can look very different with the light and photographic effects.

Click to expand...

You are right about the colours, and that's why I added info that it was significantly darker than obvious michahellis observed in the same place - actually the photo reflects the colour quite well in my opinion, based on what I saw.
As for the subspecies, L. fuscus seems to have become rather rare here in Poland lately, but the ones I saw some time ago were definitely darker than this one, virtually black. So I agree that this one is definitely not the nominate ssp. Both graellsii and intermedius are possible in Portugal, right?

Thanks for answering!

michalb said:

Both graellsii and intermedius are possible in Portugal, right?

Click to expand...

Portugal is part of the main wintering range of graellsii (with a few breeding pairs also), and intermedius also common. L. f. fuscus (Baltic Gull) is very rare in the Iberian Peninsula, as almost all of the breeding population migrates to the SE.