BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="SteveMM" data-source="post: 3529917" data-attributes="member: 130392">There's only Slaty-backed Gull I haven't looked at at all yet, but, before I do that, I wanted to post some more taimyrensis taken today (and see what the long weekend holiday here this weekend brings). The first individual is interesting in respect of the bird in #4 and the comment in #25. The solidly dark greater coverts and entirely brown 'hand' (with no window to speak of) of the attached bird point to it being taimyrensis (and to the wing being juvenile). Interestingly, much of the mantle, scapulars, and median and lesser wing coverts seem to have been replaced by an adult-type (blue-grey) feather, resulting in a plumage that looks more like that of some kind of second-winter.I don't think that this bird can be late first-winter mongolicus as this should have a juvenile wing with faded greater coverts and a prominent pale window. I get out of my depth with second-winters, but, as this plumage is acquired early in mongolicus, it too should be paler/faded by late February.I really am guessing, but it seems to me that some taimyrensis can moult in a manner as described for barabensis in Malling Olsen and Larsson (i.e. quite advanced and quite early on). Again, if this is completely wrong, please do point it out. There is no interest whatsoever in gull ID here in Taiwan, so I'm left to fathom them out completely on my own!  Attached: First-winter taimyrensis (ID'd by uniformly solid dark greater coverts, indistict pale window, contrasting unmarked white uppertail, active moult to first-winter/first-summer).</blockquote>

Verification