31 May 2019

May 2019 Quiz


Age: There are two generations of flight feathers seen here. The three outer primaries appear to be the juvenile (1st basic) feathers of a smaller hooded gull. This is also true for the secondaries with brown trailing edge. The 5-6 newer inner primaries are 2nd generation, and so we can be sure this bird is a 2nd cycle. Assuming this is a resident of the northern hemisphere, we might guess it's the boreal spring/summer.

Identification: This month's quiz isn't too bad if we narrow down our choices to a hooded gull with a moderate sized bill in proportion to the head, a dark trailing edge and narrow tailband. Black-headed and Bonaparte's are the top two contenders. Black-headed typically shows dark pigment on the underwing (all that's seen here is a shadow effect and no black). The all-black bill also points away from Black-headed and favors Bonaparte's. May's quiz bird is a relatively straight-forward one-year old Bonaparte's molting flight feathers.

Muskegon County, Michigan. May.

01 May 2019

Monthly Notables April 2019

Sightings:
  • Sabine's Gull (adult). San Francisco County, California. 02 April 2019.
  • Glaucous Gull (1st cycle). Lafourche County, Alabama. 03 April 2019.
  • Thayer's Gull (1st cycle). Volusia County, Florida. 04 April 2019.
  • Great Black-backed Gull (adult). Logan County, Colorado. 06 April 2019.
  • Black-headed Gull (adult). Anne Arundel County, Maryland. 06 April 2019.
  • Glaucous Gull (1st cycle). Salt Lake County, Utah. 06 April 2019.
  • Mew Gull (adult). Barnstable County, Massachusetts. 07 April 2019.
  • Little Gull (1st cycle). Hall County, Georgia. 13 April 2019.
  • Mew Gull (2nd cycle). Nebraska. Lancaster County, Nebraska. 12 April 2019.
  • Glaucous-winged Gull (adult type). Kiowa County, Colorado. 13 April 2019. 
  • Common Gull (2nd cycle). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 17 April 2019.
  • California Gull (adult). New Haven County, Connecticut. 18 April 2019.
    • 2nd State Record.
  • Ivory Gull (adult). Manicouagan County, Quebec. 19 April 2019.
  • Little Gull (1st cycle). Lyon County, Kentucky. 20 April 2019.
  • Laughing Gull (adult). Dane County, Wisconsin. 20 April 2019.
  • Heermann's Gull (adult). Imperial County, California. 20 April 2019.
  • Thayer's Gull (2nd cycle). Galveston County, Texas. 22 April 2019.
  • California Gull (2 adults). Cook County, Illinois. 23 April 2019.
  • Ivory Gull (6 adults). Nome County, Alaska. 24 April 2019.
  • Lesser Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle). San Luis Obispo County, California 30 April 2019.