CO birders, According to eBird, there has only been 1 other Laughing Gull found in Colorado in the last 5 years!
Checklist comments by the finder George Ho say that the Merlin Photo ID function made the identification, and while the app does not have 100% accuracy and should not be relied upon by itself in identification, this is an example of Merlin accurately picking out a rarity! In the photos, notice how the outer half of the primary feathers (or roughy outer 1/3 of the wing) are almost solidly black, whereas the similar and more common Franklin's Gull would show only a small band of black near the wingtips, bordered by white. Folded, the primaries appear entirely black, whereas in Franklin's you would see large white primary tips. See photos in the checklist below: https://ebird.org/checklist/S133512612 Cheers, David Tonnessen Currently Colorado Springs On Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 1:31:28 PM UTC-6 Brandon wrote: > The Laughing Gull is at Lake Lanora at Rocky Mountain Arsenal. > > Brandon K. Percival > Pueblo West, CO > -- -- 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] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/fa882b89-28ad-415f-81c5-8b410ea1b29dn%40googlegroups.com.
