MD Birding:
I saw the Frederick Gull late yesterday afternoon. I would like to
challenge the ID of this bird ...
Besides our expected, North American, hooded gulls, and along with
our more common hooded gull vagrant, as of late, the Black-headed
Gull, most people don't really consider extralimital alternatives
when they run across an unusual hooded gull in our region.
Foe example, for quite a few years, I have predicted that the
Mediterranean Gull was going to show up in the mid-Atlantic region.
(Ask Fred Shaffer about this!) This species is spreading throughout
Europe and has been recorded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean at
the Azores and Madeira Islands.
A small hooded gull, it looks superficially like "our" hooded gulls
.... Laugher, Boney's, Frankin's.
The problem is that hardly anyone knows enough about this species to
separate if from the more expected "usual suspects" and no one is
really expecting to find it on our shores ...
Since this species is not "expected" in our region, there are few
comparisons and ID keys available to easily separate this European
species from our North American species.
Then, you can also throw into the mix, some of the even lesser
expected hooded species, such as the South American Brown-hooded,
Gray-hooded, and even the Andean Gull.
Swallow-tailed Gull has even been recorded now in North America.
Larger European hooded species include Pallas's Gull and White-eyed
Gull need to be eliminated, too.
From even further away, Asian hooded gull candidates could include
the Relict Gull and Sander's Gull.
These species can be more problematic when not in full alternate
(breeding) plumage.
So, now that I have rambled on a bit ... what do I think this
Frederick County bird really is?
... the quite rare ...
... the very unusual ...
Larus aprilisfoolis
(Sorry, I had to stretch this out to hide the punch line from initial view)
Phil
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Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA
mailto:<PDavis...>
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