[mou] Iceland Gull

[Michael Hendrickson]

Superior Landfill in Superior, Wisconsin was quite active with about 2000 gulls swarming the landfill.  I was able to pick out a first cycle Iceland Gull.  While observing this gull in flight for several minutes I was reminded that a very pale Thayer's Gull was reported a few weeks ago in Duluth so I kept notes of what I saw.

-Slightly smaller vs. Herring Gulls

-Smaller bill and the bill was dark and not bi-colored as what you would see in first cycle Glaucous Gulls.
* I did have two first cycle Glaucous Gulls fly side by side with the Iceland Gull for comparison.

-The primaries were mostly white except for a small amount of whitish tan in the inner webs of the primaries.

-The tail had a whitish tan band (same color as inner web of primaries) and there wasn't much of a contrast that made the band stick out.

The overall look of the gull was very frosty looking with white and light tan scalloping of the bird.

So I decided to eliminate this gull for a light juvenile Thayer's Gull and I also checked Peder Svingen's photo to make sure it wasn't the same gull and it wasn't.

Other gulls at the landfill:
-1 first cycle Thayer's Gull (typical coloration)
-2 first cycle Glaucous Gull
 
Mike Hendrickson
Duluth, Minnesota
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/mmhendrickson/
Blog: http://colderbythelakebirding.blogspot.com/


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