Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 07:38:56 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: JAMES FELLEY Subject: Help with Shrimpy(?) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline I have yet to see the Kelp Gull, but can give a bit of help with black-backed gulls with some black in their bills in spring in the DC area. I hope I have qualified my 'help' enough! Greater Black-backed Gulls just coming into their first adult plumages can show a variety of confusing characteristics. For one, their mantles may not be as dark as those of adults, so they may look 'dark grey'. Their legs are almost always some kind of pink, but not the blushing pink of the adults. And finally, the worst character: As they lose the black coloration on their bill and develop a yellow bill with a red spot, you can see all many of combinations of red, yellow and black. One of these combination did give me a start last year, as I thought I had found a California Gull!! But its pink legs brought me back to reality. Martin Reid's gull pages have some images that illustrate this: http://www.martinreid.com/gullinx.htm and Steve Hampton's pages have a description: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/6181/gulls.htm Jim Jim Felley Smithsonian Institution felleyj@si.edu NOTE THE CHANGE IN EMAIL! (and technology is supposed to help us!) ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================