Featured Highlight February 2025 - Video 2

Welcome to Featured Highlights, February 2025, a video series that aims to highlight ideas found in The Gull Guide - North America. I'll be expanding on and detailing concepts you're reading about in the book, beginning with establishing a foundation for molt and plumage. 

In this video we review the definitions of juvenile and 1st alternate plumage and also provide a few interesting examples of 1st alternate plumages in species such as Yellow-footed and Kelp Gull. Be sure you've watched Video 1 before this.

Requests and suggestions can be forwarded to thegullguide@gmail.com

Click on thumbnail above and be sure to watch in HD

January 2025 Monthly Notables

Sightings:

• Vega Gull (2nd cycle). San Diego County, California. 01 January 2025.
• 1st County Record.¹
• Gray Gull (1st cycle). Cameron County, Texas. 03 January 2025.
• 1ST STATE RECORD.²
• Little Gull (adult). Charles Mix County, South Dakota. 03 January 2025.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). North River County, Quebec. 03 January 2025.
• Continuing.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Muskegon County, Michigan. 04 January 2025.
• Continuing.
• Sabine's Gull (1st cycle). Palm Beach County, Florida. 05 January 2025.
• Kelp Gull (1st/2nd cycle). Nueces County, Texas. 06 January 2025.
• Continuing. p1 dropped between 05 and 06 January.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Charlotte County, New Brunswick. 06 January 2025.
• Short-billed Gull (1st cycle). Mason County, Michigan. 13 January 2025.
• 1st County Record; 3rd State Record.³
• Short-billed Gull (1st cycle). Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 14 January 2025.
• 1st County Record. 4th State Record.
• Vega Gull (adult). San Mateo County, California. 15 January 2025.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry County, Ontario. 17 January 2025.
• Little Gull (2nd cycle). Marion County, Tennesse. 18 January 2025.
• 1st County Record.
• Heermann's Gull (adult). New Hanover County, North Carolina. 19 January 2025.
• Presumably the Atlantic coast bird, now 6th cycle.
• Black-headed Gull (1st cycle). Brevard County, Florida. 23 January 2025.
• Kelp Gull (2nd cycle). Cameron County, Texas. 25 January 2025.
• 2nd County Record. The same individual found last month in Nueces & Kleberg County. Now with 2nd prebasic molt in motion with new p1 emerging, p2-p3 dropped.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Salt Lake County, Utah. 25 January 2025.
• 2nd State Record. 
• Kamchatka Gull (adult). Essex County, Massachusetts. 26 January 2025.
• Possibly a returning adult.
• Vega Gull (adult). Cameron County, Texas. 28 January 2025.
• Putatively, a returning adult (no open wing).
• Slaty-backed Gull (1st cycle). Midway Atoll, Midway Islands. 29 January 2025.
• Kamchatka Gull (adult). Fairfield County, Connecticut. 31 January 2025.
• Continuing
• Ross's Gull (adult). Ford County, Kansas. 31 January 2025. 
• 2nd State Record.

Notes: 

1. The 2nd cycle Vega Gull found in San Diego County on 01 January 2025 was first observed offshore on a pelagic trip, and then, amazingly, relocated days later some 35 miles away, inland at Lower Otay Reservoir. It was still being seen as of 31 January 2025.

2. Perhaps the most anticipated site in Texas where a Gray Gull would be found, a 1st State Record was found at the Brownsville Landfill by Justin LeClaire on 03 January 2025. 

3. Over the years Michigan has aggregated 8 Common/Mew Gull records, pre-split, without a specific designation given to most of these. Only 2 of these have been accepted as bona fide brachyrhynchus, now Short-billed Gull. Thus, the Mason County individual from 13 January 2025 should be a 3rd State Record.

Featured Highlight January 2025 - Video 1

Welcome to Featured Highlights. This monthly video series aims to highlight ideas found in The Gull Guide - North America. I'll be expanding on and detailing concepts you're reading about in the book, beginning with establishing a foundation for molt and plumage. 

This first video explains juvenile and 1st alternate plumage, and the patterns we find in several species including Lesser Black-backed Gull, Heermann's, American Herring and Thayer's Gull. 

Requests and suggestions can be forwarded to thegullguide@gmail.com

Click on thumbnail above and be sure to watch in HD

December 2024 Monthly Notables

Sightings:

• California Gull (2nd cycle). Butler County, Pennsylvania. 01 December 2024.
• California Gull (adult). Wayne County, Michigan. 03 December 2024.
• Yellow-footed Gull (adult). Clark County, Nevada. 03 December 2024.
• Continuing since September. Presumably a returning bird since March 2022.
• Great Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Lewis & Clark County, Montana. 09 December 2024.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Kawartha County, Ontario. 13 December 2024.
• Swallow-tailed Gull (adult). Sonoma County, California. 13 December 2024.
• Interestingly, this is the same site of the October 2017 Swallow-tailed Gull sighting, suggesting a likelihood of a returning individual.
• Vega Gull (adult). San Francisco County, California. 13 December 2024.
• p9 fully grown, p10 ~80% grown. 
• Vega Gull (adult). Elkhart County, Indiana. 19 December 2024.
• Putative. p1-p7 fully grown, p8 ~60% grown, p9-p10 retained. 
• Franklin's Gull (1st cycle). Marion County, Florida. 20 December 2024.
• 1st County Record.
• Glaucous-winged Gull (adult). Bernalillo County, New Mexico. 21 December 2024.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Muskegon County, Michigan. 23 December 2024.
• Vega Gull (adult). San Mateo County, California. 23 December 2024.
• Returning winter bird (Maybelline) since at least 2021.
• Kelp Gull (1st cycle). Nueces County, Texas. 26 December 2024.
• 7th State Record.
• 1st Nueces County Record. 
• 1st Kleberg County Record as of 27 December 2024
• Kamchatka Gull (adult). Fairfield County, Connecticut. 27 December 2024.
• Returning winter bird since at least 2019.
• Kamchatka Gull (adult). Nantucket County, Massachusetts. 29 December 2024.
• Returning winter bird since at least 2013.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). La Riviere-du-Nord County Quebec. 29 December 2024.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (ad, 2 3rd cycle types, 1st cycle). Tulare County, California. 30 December 2024.

Notes:

1. The Sonoma County, California Taimyr Gull has returned to Petaluma, reported by Noah Arthur on 07 December 2024. This bird has presumably returned for at least 8 consecutive years.  
   
   
2. The Nueces County, Texas Kelp Gull, found by Andrew Orgill, is now only the second time a "1st cycle" Kelp has been recorded in the ABA Area, with the previous individual coming from Brazoria County, in similar conditions, ~150 miles to the north on 19 December 2008. The Nueces County individual has become the most thoroughly documented 1st cycle Kelp in the ABA Area, working a long stretch of beach where it is feeding on fish, and interestingly, not known to be visiting any landfills. It shows a fairly moderate 1st prealternate molt, such that it resembles some birds of Peruvian origin. Most tail feathers have been replaced (right r5-r6 & left r6 retained), as well as its tertials and perhaps 1-2 inner secondaries have been renewed (1st alternate). See Adriaens et al. 2023. for relevant reading. On 27 December 2024, the bird moved slightly south into Kleberg County, furnishing a first county record here as well.
   
   
3. This month, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls with satellite transmitters were found at different locations in the Eastern United States. Red AS was found in Bucks County, PA on 14 December 2024 (banded as a 3rd cycle on Nantucket in February 2023), and Red BZ was found in Horry County, SC on 28 December 2024 (banded recently as a 2nd cycle on Nantucket on 10 December 2024). Both of these birds, found in landfills, are part of a long-term project managed by Dr. Richard Veit, which aims to study the movements of the species in North America. Incidentally, Red AS has been to Greenland and back, and as far south as Cape Hatteras. 
   

December 2024 Monthly Quiz

 

Illinois. February.

Age: This appears to be a 1st cycle large gull, based on the mottled grayish-brown upperparts with extensive patterning, black bill and consistently patterned uppertail coverts.

Identification: With so many similar-looking large gulls in 1st cycle, where does one begin? Importantly, the outer primaries have a distinct two-toned appearance, often described as a venetian blind pattern. The plumage is fairly uniform, grayish-brown, and not very contrasty (as we find in California and Herring Gull). The warmer brown tones to the flight feathers, including the tail feathers, fairly straight bill -- and of course location -- all point to a 1st cycle Thayer's Gull (Larus glaucoides thayeri), which is what our December 2024 Quiz bird is.

November 2024 Monthly Notables

Sightings:

• Common Gull (adult). Knox County, Maine. 01 November 2024.
• Found the previous day, an individual with a blue field-readable band 74J. Same as bird found in MA in 2018.
• Common Gull (adult). Knox County, Maine. 02 November 2024.
• An unbanded individual, showing some henei characteristics. 
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (4th cycle type). Lincoln County, Oregon. 01 November 2024. 
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Benton County, Washington. 02 November 2024.
• Returning for an 8th consecutive year.
• Slaty-backed Gull (4th cycle type). Santa Cruz County, California. 04 November 2024.
• Black-headed Gull (1st cycle). Wake County, North Carolina. 09 November 2024.
• Short-billed Gull (adult). Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry County, Ontario. 15 November 2024.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Oneida County, New York. 17 November 2024.
• Ross's Gull (5). Gambell. St. Lawrence Island, AK. 17 November 2024.
• Great Black-backed Gull (adult). Pueblo County, Colorado. 19 November 2024.
• Murray, presumably the same adult that winters here, back for a 31st year!
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Onondaga County, New York. 22 November 2024.
• Likely the same adult from Oneida County.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Lake County, Ohio. 23 November 2024.
• Ivory Gull (5 adults & juvenile). Baffin County, Nunavut. 24 November 2024.
• Little Gull (adult). Capital District, British Columbia. 26 November 2024.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 29 November 2024.
• The age is noteworthy here.

Notes:

1. As expected, the floodgates for Vega Gull reports have been open. Two 1st cycles from California (found here and here) and a 1st cycle in Oklahoma hold promise. 
2. The Slaty-backed Gull from Benton County, Washington returns for an 8th year. Thanks to Ian Paulsen for noting that this may be a North American record of a known SBAG that has returned to the same site for this many years.
3. The putative Black-headed x Ring-billed hybrid (adult) that has been seen for a number of years around Cumberland County, Maine was reported on 02 November 2024. 
4. A new apparent high count for the state, 635 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were counted in Hancock County, Ohio at Findlay Reservoirs.  
5. A higher-than-average number of sightings of late Sabine's Gulls was recorded throughout the lower 48 this month.

November 2024 Monthly Quiz

 

October. California

Age: This is a large white-headed gull. The rounded primary tips, adult-like gray on the back, and white uppertail coverts indicate it is not a 1st cycle. The flight feathers don't appear adult-like with broad white tips, thus we can be confident in aging it as a 2nd cycle.

Identification: The scapular feathers are fairly dark, suggesting a black-backed species. The broad wing and apparent thick bill with noticeable expansion at the tip are typical of Western Gull. Given the location and time of year, California Gull should be eliminated, which it is by bill pattern and overall structure. The hand appears short, recalling Slaty-backed Gull, but this may be a consequence of how the bird is holding its wing. 2nd cycle Slaty-backed Gull doesn't typically show a smudged head pattern like this, and its outer primaries are often paler with a two-toned venetian blinds pattern.

Our October Quiz bird is indeed a 2nd cycle Western Gull.

, but also by the broad wing. California Gull should have a sharply demarcated bill tip and a narrower wing that appears