Gull - Parker River NWR, Massachusetts, USA (1 Viewer)

[willkirby]

Possibly this is just a Herring Gull in some intermediate plumage, but I also wondered about Iceland Gull. A more definitive ID would be much appreciated! It was far away, but appeared to be about the same size or a bit smaller than other Herring Gulls around the same distance.

 

[Butty]

With that amount of blackish on the wing-tip, it's not an Iceland gull.

 

[willkirby]

Is that definitely enough to rule it out? From Macauley, it looks like the amount of black on the wingtip is quite variable: see for example Iceland Gull (Thayer's) Macaulay Library ML47427411. I was thinking of Thayer's subspecies, which used to be its own species I believe.

 

[Butty]

That's not what I call an Iceland gull, but, yes, more plausible. No idea.

 

[willkirby]

That's not what I call an Iceland gull, but, yes, more plausible. No idea.

Got it. Thanks for replying anyway!

 

[AveryBartels]

For what it's worth, Thayer's is more of a western bird, being quite rare in Eastern NA. As to the age, given the apparent clean(ish) grey mantle it looks like an adult or perhaps 3rd cycle. These are tough photos to delve into something as complex as gull ID but I can't see any reason why this shouldn't be just a Herring Gull.

 

[willkirby]

For what it's worth, Thayer's is more of a western bird, being quite rare in Eastern NA. As to the age, given the apparent clean(ish) grey mantle it looks like an adult or perhaps 3rd cycle. These are tough photos to delve into something as complex as gull ID but I can't see any reason why this shouldn't be just a Herring Gull.

Yeah, makes sense that it probably isn't enough to rule anything out. Thanks!