That is not a Great-black Backed Gull, Dale. GBBG would be much darker. Black, even. And the legs would likely be a paler pink. And as you say it's too small for a GBBG, or at least a "normal" one. They are enormous.
Nice find. Jesse Ellis Cedar Rapids, IA On Mon, Jan 7, 2019 at 1:35 PM Dale Trexel <[email protected]> wrote: > Yesterday, Jeff Eddy and I hit the Duluth Canal to check out the gulls and > other birds in the cold north wind blowing off Superior. We were happy to > get Glaucous and Iceland (Thayer's) Gulls, but then a darker-gray-backed > bird showed up. I've posted photos to my eBird report and the Minnesota > Birding Facebook group. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S51428572 > > (Sorry if this is a repeat: I initially sent this to [email protected], which > didn't seem to go through.) > > The most likely species for the location is the Great Black-backed Gull, > but there were several things about this individual that made us question > that ID. Garrett Wee tagged Amar Ayyash on FB, who replied, "Looks like a > great Slaty candidate!" I'll post my full FB account below. > > So, for any of you up in the Duluth area willing to venture out in today's > conditions, this might be a chaseable bird! Also happy to take ID > suggestions here or privately. > > Dale Trexel > Mendota Heights, MN > > > My original FB post: > > Gull ID request. Yesterday we were at the Duluth canal park and spotted > this individual out on the far wall. It's clearly darker than the Herring > Gulls nearby, but not as dark as I'd expect for a Great Black-backed Gull. > GBBG is most likely, but I'm wondering what the chances are we found > something even more unlikely, like a Slaty-backed Gull. > > You can barely see it in the photos I got, but it's mostly adult with some > juvenile characteristics: head is very streaky, bill is light (I thought I > saw a slight pink cast in quick view that I got) with a dark tip, and in > photos there seems to be just a hint of brownish mottling at the edge of > the gray regions. I presume this is a 3rd winter bird. > > The legs are pink, but not distinctly more pink than the HEGU nearby (rules > out Lesser Black-backed Gull). The white band on the trailing edge of the > wing is pretty bold and even all the way across, especially compared to the > HEGU nearby, but is it enough for SLGU? Sibley has 3rd winter GBBG heads > much more white than this individual, which appears closer to his > illustration of 3rd winter SLGU, but I have no idea how variable that trait > can be. Size-wise it's not as dramatically bigger than the HEGU as I'd > expect for a GBBG. > > We observed the bird just this one time, just before noon. I digiscoped > these images before something sent the whole flock into the air, and we > never relocated it. We even popped over to Grandma's for lunch and to warm > up before heading back out for one last look, without success. Someone came > out with bread to draw the gulls in for photos, causing too much chaos, so > we headed out. > > We're back home now, so those of you still up in the Duluth area may want > to keep an eye out for this bird! > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > -- Jesse Ellis ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
