Conowingo Gull

GREGORY.B.MILLER@bge.com
Wed, 11 Feb 1998 10:54:36 -0500


        Before I personally toss in the towel on this bird, I'd have to say
     that if I'd seen this bird in another part of the world where
     Ring-billed Gulls were rare or accidental, I'd be hard-pressed to give
     a positive ID on this individual as a Ring-billed Gull.

        While there are some serious questions (that *are* being
     addressed), this may be one gull that falls into the unidentified
     category forever.  Whatever the final outcome, though, finding an
     individual bird that obviously has characteristics that you've never
     seen on any other bird is *still* exhilerating.  It is all a part of
     this great birding adventure which is chock full of discovery.

        If this bird is definitively a Ring-billed Gull, I would be most
     interested to learn what characteristics brought about this conclusion
     and secondly, how common this sort of plumage is in Ring-billed Gulls.
      Could this be an individual from some far away place where there are
     *lots* of Ring-billed Gulls that look like this?  Or is this a fluke
     with well-defined, partial albinism?

     Greg Miller
     Lusby, MD