What kind of birds are these? (1 Viewer)

[kathijo]

Can you help me identify these birds?
Thank you!

 

[jimtfoto]

Laughing Gulls??

cheers,
jim

 

[JANJ]

Whitout question marks!

JanJ

 

[Accipiter]

Franklin's Gull is what I would lean toward, especially if you saw these in the Illinois area.

 

[JANJ]

Well Accipiter, but they are still Laughing Gulls.
Compare with these Franklin´s:

http://www.roysephotos.com/FranklinsGull.html

JanJ

 

[AlexC]

Yep, still Laughing Gulls. Notice the small white primary tips (vs. a Franklin's large ones). Also, I don't think kathijo has specified whether or not the photos were taken in Illinois; when and where were these taken?

 

[jcwings]

Yep, still Laughing Gulls. Notice the small white primary tips (vs. a Franklin's large ones). Also, I don't think kathijo has specified whether or not the photos were taken in Illinois; when and where were these taken?

I was wondering this myself. What is the status of Laughing Gull in Illinois?
|:S|

 

[AlexC]

I was wondering this myself. What is the status of Laughing Gull in Illinois?
|:S|

According to Sibley, There have been multiple "rare sightings" in Illinois, but nothing concrete at all. If you ask me, I think we should wait for kathijo to respond regarding location; the background of the photo looks like ocean, which is also not common in Illinois... 8-P

 

[johnruss]

According to Sibley, There have been multiple "rare sightings" in Illinois, but nothing concrete at all. If you ask me, I think we should wait for kathijo to respond regarding location; the background of the photo looks like ocean, which is also not common in Illinois... 8-P

The primary spots on the tail are small indicating the difference between the Franklin and the Laughing. However where is the red bill?? unless there is a phase not included in Sibleys. Now about the water. Illinois does border Lake Michigan. so there is a large body of water like a small ocean. and the lakes do open out to the Atlantic so to speak through the St lawrence seaway. I think they are Laughing Gulls.

 

[AlexC]

Bills seem red to me - just the lighting that makes 'em look darker.

 

[JANJ]

Don´t mind about Illinois, and the bill colour, they are Laughing Gulls.

http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/49074/sort/1/cat/all/page/3

JanJ

 

[London Birder]

even if this was taken on the moon they are still Laughers

 

[Thayeri]

Interestingly enough, the second to bottom photo in JanJ's first link would seem to disprove the notion that adult summer Franklin's Gulls can't have primary tips that look like Laughing Gulls. For those who don't live in this region of the United States, I would caution that seeing a pair of Laughing Gulls casually hanging out together in Chicago has about the same probability as that of seeing a pair of Ring-billed Gulls hanging out together in London -- meaning great caution is quite appropriate.

That said, I think that Kathijo has sent us a vacation or trip photo, and that the birds are Laughing Gulls. For reasons of eye crescents, tertial crescents, bill shape and color, and primary projection, as well as the obvious primary patterns...

 

[Katy Penland]

If you ask me, I think we should wait for kathijo to respond regarding location; the background of the photo looks like ocean, which is also not common in Illinois... 8-P

If you run your cursor over the photo, its label says "Birds at Rocky Point", and there is a Rocky Point in southern Illinois in a huge state park that has a lake with an 18-mile perimeter.

 

[London Birder]

oddly enough RB Gull is a reg in London

found two meself

Interestingly enough, the second to bottom photo in JanJ's first link would seem to disprove the notion that adult summer Franklin's Gulls can't have primary tips that look like Laughing Gulls. For those who don't live in this region of the United States, I would caution that seeing a pair of Laughing Gulls casually hanging out together in Chicago has about the same probability as that of seeing a pair of Ring-billed Gulls hanging out together in London -- meaning great caution is quite appropriate.

That said, I think that Kathijo has sent us a vacation or trip photo, and that the birds are Laughing Gulls. For reasons of eye crescents, tertial crescents, bill shape and color, and primary projection, as well as the obvious primary patterns...

 

[Thayeri]

oddly enough RB Gull is a reg in London

found two meself

Over the years you've found two Ring-belleds yourself? Or you've found two of them together as a pair, sunning themselves side by side away from the other gulls?

My point was not that Laughing Gulls are impossible in Illinois. It was that, as with other comparative rarities, finding a pair is in general much less likely than a singleton. And that it is entirely appropriate for people to be taking that into account in this thread...

Nice catch on the photo label by the way, Katy. Looking at Sibley's green dots, it does appear that southern Illinois would be more likely to get Laughing Gulls than northern Illinois and my assumption of Chicago.

 

[HH75]

Hi Thayeri,
Hardly relevant, I know, but I have regularly seen up to FIVE adult Ring-billed Gulls together at a site on the outskirts of Cork city here in Ireland, and 2-3 together in full breeding plumage before they leave for the summer.
The gulls are Laughing Gulls, by the way....
Regards,
Harry

 

[Thayeri]

Hi Thayeri,
Hardly relevant, I know, but I have regularly seen up to FIVE adult Ring-billed Gulls together at a site on the outskirts of Cork city here in Ireland, and 2-3 together in full breeding plumage before they leave for the summer.
The gulls are Laughing Gulls, by the way....
Regards,
Harry

Hi Harry,

It sounds like ring-billeds are much more common in Ireland then than Laughing Gulls would be in my northern Illinois assumption, so my choice of examples wasn't the best.

As you can see on my first post, I do agree the birds are Laughing Gulls, by the way... However, those who are still learning gulls should be encouraged in their geographical skepticism in my opinion, for Franklin's is thousands of times more likely in that area, and if you can't tell a Laughing Gull for sure -- then you should be skeptical.

 

[HH75]

Hi Thayeri,
Point taken, I certainly wouldn't want to be seen as encouraging someone to identify unfamiliar birds as rarities far too readily!
Regards,
Harry

 

[JANJ]

"However, those who are still learning gulls should be encouraged in their geographical skepticism in my opinion, for Franklin's is thousands of times more likely in that area, and if you can't tell a Laughing Gull for sure -- then you should be skeptical."

You are of course right in this Thayeri, and I had planned to write more about the differences between the two.

JanJ