This gull was at Elliot Landfill, Corpus Christi, Texas on February
17, 2005; I feel that it is likely a first-winter Vega
Gull Larus {argentatus} vegae, even though the
tail is not towards the extreme end for that taxon, and is matched
by a small number of western smithsonianus HERGs. I'd appreciate
feedback/other suggestions - thanks:
I first found it accidentally, while photographing the putative Yellow-legged Gull on the left:
Note the rather pale underwing coverts, and in all the flight
images, a long, white line across the upper marginal coverts on
the inner wing - the Ujihara's in Japan have previosuly told me
that this is a classic mark of vegae that they feel is
not found in smithsonianus:
note the strong white marks on the greater secondary coverts extend
to the outermost of those coverts:
In the image below, note the inset at bottom-left:- the typical
HERG "holly-leaf" pattern is present, but I've noticed
that vegae has a slight variation that I cannot find in
smithsonianus - the white indent pointed-to by line "X"
has a rounded, not pointed inner edge, creating a subtly different
feel to these lower scaps:
