Maryland Kelp Gull (?) Notes
Phil Davis (pdavis@ix.netcom.com)
Tue, 16 Feb 1999 01:07:08 -0500
Some notes on the Maryland Kelp Gull(?).
As I write this, I think there may be an identification problem between
Kelp Gull and the dark Larus fuscus fuscus form of the Lesser Black-backed
Gull (breeds in Baltic and Norway, winters in Middle east and east Africa)
See notes at the end of the message.
Date: Monday, February 15th, 1999
Location: Mechanicsburg, MD
Size: Superficially, the bird looks like a Greater Black-backed when
sitting (and if you can't see the legs). Without a nearby bird to compare
it to, someone suggested that you might just pass it off as a Greater BB.
Bill: The bill is large and yellow. Red gonidial spot - large. Notable
gonidial angle. Bill very similar in shape to the Herring Gulls, present.
Maybe slightly shorter.
Eye: Light iris, bright red orbital ring.
Head: White; small number of light brownish/grey flecks on the hind neck
and side of the neck. Shape of head seemed to be rather "flat headed" with
a slopping forehead.
Mantle: Dark - like the nearby Greater Black-backs. The scapulars were
darker than the upper coverts and the coverts were lighter than the
primaries. A small tertial crescent.
Upper Wings: Wings extended well beyond the tail. Four white spots, beyond
the end of the tail, visible when at rest. Wide white trailing edge to
secondaries visible in flight or when wings were stretched. In flight,
wings appeared to be very long--smooth fluid wing beats, flapping mostly
from the middle of the wing.
Lower Wings: Mirror only on outer primary. Primaries mostly dark. Under
coverts were much light(er).
Tail: White. May have seen a slight dark smudge on the end of the
underside outer tail feathers when preening.
Legs: Much lighter than nearby Ring-billed Gulls. A pale greenish-yellow.
Seemed to have longer legs than Herring Gulls.--both the tarsus and tibia
seemed longer than Herring Gulls.
Overall jizz: Seemed like a long (very elongated) bird.
Optics: Swarovski ST-80 HD; 20-60x zoom ( mostly on 20x !)
Light: Full sun, directly over my back.
Temp: low 50s
Winds: Light (3-5mph?)
Quick analysis: Why not other dark-backed gulls?
Greater Black-backed: Too small, legs not pink, red orbital ring.
Slaty-backed: Legs not pink, wing pattern wrong--missing white spots and
underwing is dark, not gray.
Western: Legs not pink;
Heermann's: Bill and leg color wrong.
Black-tailed: No black on tail. No black/red tip on bill. Legs too light.
Band-tailed: No black on tail. No dark tip on bill.
Pacific Gull: No black on tail. Bill not large enough. Bill all yellow.
Dolphin Gull: Bill and leg color wrong.
Lesser Black-backed: graseli: Legs light yellow, not dark yellow. Too
dark. Too much gonidial angle(?).
intermedius: ???
fuscus: (This could be a tough one!) L.f.f. is very dark (like
Greater BB) stays white-headed in the winter, legs are duller than other
LBBG subspecies, has a wider white trailing edge to wing; only one mirror;
sparse hind neck spots and streaks. Sound familiar? The problem areas
that could prevent L.f.f. look like maybe bill shape and overall size of
the bird--too big--the MD bird looks more to be size of a Herring Gull(?)
Vega: Too dark.
Phil
================================================
Phil Davis
home: PDavis@ix.netcom.com Davidsonville, Maryland USA
work: PDavis@OAO.com Greenbelt, Maryland USA
================================================