This gull in the 5 pics below was observed by a bunch of birders on 15 Feb 2004 near Cape Hatteras Point on the "south beach" with a flock of mostly Herring Gulls. It was essentially the same size as, or perhaps very slightly larger than, nearby Herring Gulls. Any comments about this bird's identity are welcome! Various thoughts of this bird's identity include a Herring Gull hybrid, a "Yellow-legged" type Herring Gull from Europe, and a Yellow-legged Gull. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good full bill or spread-wing photos. These photos were "digiscoped" by hand-holding a Nikon CoolPix 4500 camera to a Kowa TSN-824 scope.
19 photographs
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Cape Hatteras, Dare Co., NC5 Mar 2006Adult. Note all white tail, pink legs/feet, lack of black marks on bill.
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Cape Hatteras, Dare Co., NC5 Mar 2006
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Cape Hatteras, Dare Co., NC14 Feb 2004
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Cape Hatteras, Dare Co., NC14 Feb 2004
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Cape Hatteras, Dare Co., NC14 Feb 2004
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Cape Hatteras, Dare Co., NC5 Mar 20063rd winter. Note black spotting in tail
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Cape Hatteras, Dare Co., NC14 Feb 20043rd winter. Note black spotting in tail
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Cape Hatteras, NC5 Mar 2006First winter Herring Gulls are fairly uniform mottled grayish-brown birds with mostly dark tails and mostly black bills.
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Landfill in Wake Co., NC22 Jan 2005Two Herring Gulls between Ring-billed Gulls. The left-hand Herring is a 1st winter bird, and the right-hand Herring is a 2nd winter bird.
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)Landfill in Wake Co., NC20 Jan 2007This bird looks to have barely survived an attack!
This Herring-type mystery gull was clearly darker mantled than nearby Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. The shade of gray and body size seemed right for California Gull, but we (Derb Carter and I) thought we saw pink on the legs when it briefly stood. Perhaps we were mistaken and this is indeed a California Gull. Or perhaps it is a Vega Gull/European Herring Gull.Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover Co., NC 3 Jan 2015The mystery bird is near the far right. At the far left and middle left are two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, clearly darker than the mystery gull. The smaller, light gray gulls are Ring-billeds.Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover Co., NC 3 Jan 2015The mystery bird is the lower left bird, next to a Ring-billed Gull.Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover Co., NC 3 Jan 2015The mystery bird is the left bird. The sitting bird on the right is an adult Herring Gull. Ring-billed Gulls are in front.Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover Co., NC 3 Jan 2015
Yellow-legged Gull? Hybrid Herring Gull?Cape Hatteras, NC15 Feb 2004This was an adult bird with a white head, a little bit of neck streaking, and an all white tail. The mantle color was clearly a couple shades darker than nearby Herring Gulls but also significantly lighter than nearby Lesser Black-backed Gulls.Yellow-legged Gull? Hybrid Herring Gull?Cape Hatteras, NC15 Feb 2004While not visible here, the underwingtip showed a relatively small amount of black (whereas Yellow-legged Gulls L. michahellis generally show quite a bit of black there). We did observe a large white "window" in P-10 and a small dot in P-9, and Brian Patteson has a great photo of this.Yellow-legged Gull? Hybrid Herring Gull?Cape Hatteras, NC15 Feb 2004The legs were dull golden "school bus yellow" colored, not bright yellow but clearly not pink like the nearby Herrings.Yellow-legged Gull? Hybrid Herring Gull?Cape Hatteras, NC15 Feb 2004Wish that Herring Gull hadn't decided to scratch its head at that moment . . .Yellow-legged Gull? Hybrid Herring Gull?Cape Hatteras, NC15 Feb 2004The iris was yellow and the orbital ring was reddish.
Created on ... February 19, 2004 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com
