Gulls ID - India (1 Viewer)

[Pedro Maia]

Pictures taken in the beggining of january, Benaulim beach, Goa.

Brown or Black headed gulls?

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

good question... too far away for me and therefore too difficult,
but there is a larger Larus sp. Gull among them...just in the middle with a darker grey mantle ...

As there is quite some size difference between some of the blackheaded/brownheaded, it may be you have both on the photo. and the 3rd species is probably one of the larger Larus gulls?

Some more photos might help, especially flight photos....

 

[Pedro Maia]

They were distant from shore and didn´t budge while I was there, the oteher pictures I have are more or less the same.

The 3rd species I assumed it would be a larus fuscus considering the species listed in ebird for the area.

 

[THE_FERN]

Best guess without certainty is (most) black-headed. The bills look thin and the eyes dark. (On images this good telling eye colour is difficult but I'd expect some hint of a pale iris.) I can't see the wing area well enough but on black-headed you can normally see a big white edge on the folded wing. Brown-headed has a white spot on the otherwise black primaries which can be difficult to see on folded wing. I don't see much evidence of this, but perhaps the central rear bird in the latest picture? [maybe also central left bird in ..768, next to one which might be exhibiting black-headed's largely white outer primary]

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

What about the size differences in the Chroicocephalus gulls?

and what is the other gull (on the right in the last 2 photos)? It does look smallbilled and if the other gulls are all ridibundus , it would generally be a small gull, like Larus canus???

 

[HouseCrow]

Not sure about the black headeds but is the smallish, greyish gull not more something like Common Gull?
Cheers
Gerben

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

It looks much like that in the last photos...

 

[lou salomon]

What about the size differences in the Chroicocephalus gulls?

and what is the other gull (on the right in the last 2 photos)? It does look smallbilled and if the other gulls are all ridibundus , it would generally be a small gull, like Larus canus???

Gerben, Jörn - that would be about the 4th record from Goa, i.e. Common Gull is very rare down there. Broad tertial crescents and upperparts colour seem to fit but in the first image there is a dark subterminal spot to bill which I interpreted as the red gonys spot of a large gull. Still could be the dark winter subterminal spot/band in a canus bill. Just wanted to add that in about all large gulls eventually there exist runt or dwarfy individuals - so, possibly this could be just a dwarfy Steppe Gull. But of course this is speculation since nothing is really visible of the primary pattern.

 

[lou salomon]

as for the Chroicocephalus gulls: possibly there are both species in the pic and some seem to show the more heavy structure of Brown-headed. Still, without a better resolution to check iris colour, bill structure and priamary pattern, this remains an uncertain ID.

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

Yes I know how unlikely Common gull would be there -more like Uncommon gull (bad pun but couldn´t resist ) ... but looks interesting

 

[HouseCrow]

I have not rechecked the commonish gull, yet, Inaturalist has about 35 Brown-headed Gull and only 1 Black-headed (for Goa). That does not mean they are all Brown-headeds of course, but it may make a double check useful.

cheers,
Gerben

 

[Sherpa]

All Brown-headed Gulls for me, apart from the white headed bird which I believe is a Steppe Gull (barabensis). Structurally, they are wrong for Black-headed Gull, and the head pattern is also good for Brown-headed.

 

[THE_FERN]

All Brown-headed Gulls for me, [...] Structurally, they are wrong for Black-headed Gull,

Good to explain in what way

 

[Sherpa]

Good to explain in what way

The forehead of many can be seen to be gently sloping, not steep like Black-headed, giving a less rounded look. The bills are rather stout, not slim like Black-headed. The more I look at the single white headed bird, the more I'm sure it is a 'large' gull, and therefore the size of the smaller gulls can be judged to be too big for Black-headed. And finally on plumage, the very prominent dark spot on the head better fits Brown-headed. Here's a useful link showing side by side pics

Identification, Brown Headed Gull vs Black Headed Gull

Brown Headed Gull vs Black Headed Gull Brown Headed Gull Black Headed Gull Size 42cm Size 38cm. Iris color varies with age, juveniles/immature show dark iris, nearing adulthood starts showing pal…

photographyandbirds.wordpress.com

It also helps to know that Brown-headed is vastly more numerous in Goa than Black-headed.