This bird was brought to my attention this past Sunday. I checked out the report and determined that this small gull is a juv. Franklin's Gull. Cole is correct in stating that the bird is small compared to nearby Ring-billed Gulls. The bird has mostly clean white undersides of the breast, belly and undertail coverts and the undersides of the wings are also mostly white. This white underside of the wings I believe rules out Little Gull. This bird has a brownish head (hood- like) and from the top of the wing has brown secondaries and coverts and black primaries and primary coverts. The secondaries are terminated with white giving a wide white edge to the back of the inner wings. Bill is too small for a juv. Laughing Gull and the wings too rounded.
Again, the best I could make of the bird is a juv. Franklin's Gull. I have to say that this is the youngest plumage of Franklin's Gull that I have ever seen. Nice bird. Joey Kellner Littleton, CO On Jul 20, 9:40 pm, Cole Wild <[email protected]> wrote: > First thing this morning I stopped by Marston Reservoir (Denver County). I > saw the basic plumaged Red-throated Loon and 4 Common Loons (1 alternate and > 3 basic). There was also a gull out there that was very small compared to > Ring-billed Gulls. It was to dark to get any details on it when I saw it. My > impression on its size made me think there was a chance it could have been a > Little Gull, but it also could have been a Bonaparte's Gull. It would be > great if others could refind this bird to get a positive identification on > it. I could never refind it when it got light enough to see details on all > the birds. > Then Jessi Oberbeck and I headed out to Bonny Reservoir (Yuma County). We > could not refind the interesting warbler like bird that was reported from > yesterday. We saw and/or heard 1 Great Crested Flycatcher, 3 Yellow-billed > Cuckoos, 1 Field Sparrow, 1 Indigo Bunting, 1 Bell's Vireo, 4 Red-bellied > Woodpeckers,1 Orchard Oriole, and 5 Eastern Bluebirds. We also saw a bird > that looked good for a pure male Eastern Towhee, but we never heard it sing. > It was on the north side of the reservoir before reaching the state park just > east of the area where the marsh reaches the road. > Cole Wild > Loveland --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
