Beskrivelse: PÅ den anden side af havnen i Höfn i det sydøstlige Island er der en stor havternekoloni.
De var lige ankommet, og der var gang i pardannelsen.
Probably a very dark 2 cal. year Herring, ssp.argenteus. The rump in atlantis would have broader dark pattering, and generally hindneck and flanks would again show more extensive dark pattern.
The individual variation in Herring is large, so safe ID of an out of range atlantis is at best very difficult.
The picture in the last link obviously shows fresh second generation tertials and greater coverts, which would be rather unlikely for a Herring Gull in early May...
Also noted the second generation tertials and some of the coverts - which as Ruud say´s would be unusual for Herring at this age and time of year - but then again perhaps not entierly impossible. It doesn´t strike you as either a michahellis or atlantis (apart from moult), atlantis for the reasons mentioned by KMO together with rather pale inner primaries. The hybrid theory comes to mind here. In the image with the LBBG scapulars looks rather pale grey.
JanJ
IMO argenteus can be ruled out by the absence of an obvious pale window on the inner hand alone, but also shape of head and bill and of course moulted wing coverts (not replaced randomly as seen in a small portion of Herring) are contra this taxon. Some Baltic argentatus may strongly resemble YLG but the chance that such birds would reach Iceland seems very slim.
I have received other images from the photographer as well. Structurally it looks like a YLG, but any replaced tertials en wing coverts are very unlikely to look this fresh in the nominate form. I have no experience with atlantis but given the resemblance to LBBG I think this could very well be one.
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This Gull looks verry strange for me, but it´s to dark on this picture. Do Netfugl readers have any idea about this bird. There is five pictures of this bird and the color of first one is near rigt color of the bird.
How big is this bird? In some of the other photoes the shape, including head/bill is very close to Glaucous Gull. However, the dark tail-pattern does not match that species, and generally the bird is also too dark dark, with less regular barring in under tail-coverts for Glaucous.
I suspect this bird to be a hybrid between Glaucous and Herring Gull - not too infrequent in Iceland.
The bird size is like a bigg Icelandic Herring Gull and smal Glaucous. Yes we have meny hybrit of this two species and they are verry different, but this was strange for me.
The birds is superficially similar to American, with its all-dark looking tail, just showing very narrow at base of rectrices. But - as in many other cases - the rump pattern does not really fit the broadly dark-barred of smithsonianus, leaving only aa very faint contrast to the darker mantle in smithsinoanus. In this bird, the contrast is too obvious to fit smithsonianus, albeit probably within the range of paler smithsonianus (especially American West Coast birds). However, the shown tail-pattern in seemingly regular in North Atlantic Herring Gulls (argenteus), see e.g. illustraion of a juvenile from Iceland in "Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America".
The tail and the outer primaries looks too blackish for a Thayer´s Gull, which should be paler brownish-tinged here.
Thanks Klaus Malling for this, last 3-4 years I have watch and take pictures of many Herring Gull but never seen bird like this, its so grey and the rumb is strange and the color of the leggs, its darker than on every Iceland Gull here now.
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Hej
hvidt hoved med fine grå striber fra øjenmasken op oven på hovedet, center af bryst hvidt og spættede flanker, helfarvede tertialer med lys kandt yderst som kun når halvt op til dækkerne og sort næb med kraftig gonysvinkel og hvid overgump med markant sort endebånd. Jeg synes det peger på Middelhavssølvmåge
Med venlig hilsen sune
sildemåge passer jo unægtelig bedre med Island :-)
Svært at vurdere benlængde og størrelse på fuglen men benfarve, vingelængde, sortbrune halebånd og meget mørke vinger passer jo ok med sildemåge.
Synes skulderfjer og saddel snyder på denne fugl idet de virker grålige og ret lyse -men måske er det bare billedet der snyder. På billede 3 hvor den letter virker ryggen mørkere.
Mvh Sune
Man får väl utgå ifrån att BB har en tanke med sin fråga - och att han förmodas känna igen en Sildemåge när han ser en, men själv ser jag en 2k Sildemåge med passande stjärt, wing och skapular teckning. Tillsynes inga andra generationens täckare, ovanligt, men inte unikt hos michahellis.
JanJ
Sune and Jan thanks for this comments. Lesser-black Backed Gull (Sílamáfur) is verry rare winter visitor in Iceland. But have you think about the othere Gull sp. from me ?
LBB Gull recall michahellis in varoius points: Narrow rear, tailband, sometimes whitish head/underparts and all-black bill. To my opinion this individual can be seperated from michahellis by too weak bill, small head, no sign of full hindneck, tertials unicolured with rest of wing and overall jizz.
Also the heavy dark spotting on the belly, which in michahellis would appear whitish with dark markings reduced to belly-sides (flanks) points towards LBBG.
The pattern on the 1 winter mantle/scapulars is a little strange, as LBBG normally would show more extensive dark markings, but as everyone involved in large Gull ID knows, the intraspecifical variation is enormous.
Brynjulfur!
For fun, take a look at Martin Reids site and check his graellsii/intermedius/michahellis/atlantis (?) gulls from Texas. Many of those are quite similar to your gull. Not yet proven which species (or hybrids, as some suggested) is involved but some of them looks like LBBG and some would be alright as michahellis/atlantis.
http://www.martinreid.com/Gull%20website/gullnews.html
JanJ
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