Gull ID - North West Japan (1 Viewer)

[misikuru]

Hello. Can someone tell what gull is this? Herring gull or Slaty Backed? Photos taken today in Niigata pref., Japan, on a river bank, not so far from the sea. Thanks.

 

[lou salomon]

hi misikuru,
little to go on here; did you manage to take pics of other gulls in the same light? I'm tending towards a Vega Gull here as upperparts don't look dark enough for a Slaty-backed Gull. Head-neck markings aren't of much use since both can have have heavy smudgy markings during basic plumage. No (dorsal) pale tongue to p8 visible which would favour SBG but could be hidden.

 

[HouseCrow]

These look not dissimilar I would think:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1083938707139248128

Very dark mottled birds well into winter usually, see also here: Gull Research Organisation

cheers,
Gerben

 

[misikuru]

hi misikuru,
little to go on here; did you manage to take pics of other gulls in the same light? I'm tending towards a Vega Gull here as upperparts don't look dark enough for a Slaty-backed Gull. Head-neck markings aren't of much use since both can have have heavy smudgy markings during basic plumage. No (dorsal) pale tongue to p8 visible which would favour SBG but could be hidden.

Thank you Lou, I managed to take a couple of pictures of a Black-tailed gull. I'm not sure if it helps you because the quality is as bad as the previous ones. I'll attatch them anyway.

As you mentioned, the upperparts wasn't very dark. Although the light condition was far from ideal (typical winter days of the Western Coast), it looked like it has more or less the same color as the Black-tailed.

 

[misikuru]

These look not dissimilar I would think:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1083938707139248128

Very dark mottled birds well into winter usually, see also here: Gull Research Organisation

cheers,
Gerben

Thank you Gerben. The link was very informative. Bookmarked

 

[misikuru]

Hello again. Here's another picture of a Vega/Slaty-backed (the poor gull has only one leg :/) and Black-tailed gulls. I took this pic the other day, so they aren't the same individuals as previous ones but could someone ID this? Vega or Slaty Backed?

 

[HouseCrow]

1st left is as adult winter Slaty as they come, I think. The others look a bit bulky for Black-tailed but I think that's what they all are, but it is not with great certainty I say that.

cheers,
G

 

[misikuru]

Thank you Gerben!