This large gull was at Corpus Christi Landfill, Texas on January
13 and 16, 2001 (photos by Willie Sekula); it appears to be the
same individual photographed at this location in February 2000
(click here to see the original pages);
I finally saw this bird for the first time on January 16, 2001,
and was immediately struck by three things:- 1) its general bulk
and walking movements were more like HERG than LBBG, but
in flight it was much more LBBG-like; 2) the legs were more yellowish
than is apparent in the photos (all taken January 13) - a similar
comment was made by the original observers of the Feb 2000 bird);
3) the very short tail and long wings (despite not yet being fully-grown)
gave the bird a distinctive long, tapered rear-end:
- here are two photos of the presumed same individual from
the previous winter: this one by Willie Sekula from mid-February,
2000: - and this one was taken March 7, 2000 by Mel Cooksey:
- now back to photos of this bird from January 2001:-
- so is this the same bird as last year? Differences are minor
and some could be temporal (mid-Jan vs mid-Feb/early March), but
include: subtlely different pattern to the winter markings on
the head; observers who have seen the bird both times feel that
the legs look slightly yellower and the eyes look slightly
darker this year; the primary mirrors appear slightly smaller
and further from the wingtip compared to last year (an odd progression);
the white apical spot on P6 is oddly small this year; with lots
of HERGs to compare it with, it appears to be the size of an average
smith HERG (observers from both years feel that they evaluated
this aspect more accurately this year than last year). Observers
from both years are convinced it is the same bird, but
what are the implications if this is not the same
bird as last year? Compare the features shown by this bird to
these gulls in Oman (allowing for temporal
differences in winter markings, and the harsh desert sun making
the mantles look darker than in real-life), and look at this "LBBG" from 1997 - could it
too be the same bird??? It is tempting (and perhaps appropriate)
to consider the LBBG x HERG option for this bird, but I would
ask anyone who seriously supports this theory to contemplate two
anomolies: A) HERG is pale-eyed and LBBG is even paler-eyed, but
this bird is "medium-eyed"; B) regarding the tail-tip
relative to the primary apical spots, HERG falls below P7 and
graellsii LBBG falls half-way between P7 and P6 - this
bird is slightly shorter than the tip of P6 (as are many
normal heuglini and especially the "Big Pale Heuglini"-types).
As to size, look at this revealing page of specimens
from the BMNH:
Public feedback from experienced gullers for last year's bird
is availible here.
