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first winter
Herring Gull
smithsonianus
McGrath Beach, CA
late January, 2000
photos by Don DesJardin.
All photos copyright 2000.
comments by Steve Hampton
Fig 1) We thought this was an awfully frosty first year bird, and it has generated considerable discussion regarding moult timing and the possibility that it could be a retarded second-year bird. For a first year Herring Gull, it would be unusually pale in the rump and underparts.
Fig 2) The location of the pale window formed by the pale inner webs of P1-5 is fine for Herring Gull, but off for Slaty-backed, where the inner webs of P4-7 are the palest (Pyle, P., Birder's Journal 6(5): 251).

Fig 3) Notice how worn and pointed the primaries are. One careful observer pointed out the darker "wear shadow" on P9, where the former broader rounded tip of P8 had protected it from fading.


Fig 4) The "wear shadows" are apparent in this shot as well.
Fig 5) The tail is my biggest clue that this is indeed a first year bird. The cross-bars on the outermost webs are a typical first year pattern.





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