Truth be told even I have a limit for the number of adult Ring-billed Gulls I could look at before having to soon move on. But juveniles - juveniles are a different thing. Their fresh plumages and neat patterns make them difficult to ignore. Mid-late summer is the only time to familiarize ourselves with these plumages and their variation.
A couple of years ago I introduced the birding community to the "Types" of Ring-billed juveniles one might find in the field. Broadly, we have
Brown,
Ghost and
Cinnamon Types.
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Juvenile Ring-billed Gull (Brown Type). Tinley Park, Illinois. 02 August 2015.
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| Juvenile Ring-billed Gull (Ghost Type). Tinley Park, Illinois. 02 August 2015. |
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| Juvenile Ring-billed Gull (Cinnamon Type). Tinley Park, Illinois. 02 August 2015. |
And there you have it...now get out and enjoy these youngsters before the elements and feather molt begin to change their appearances.
Is this variation found in other species as well, or only in Ring-billed?
ReplyDeleteLarge white-headed gulls in general show a good deal of variation in juvenile plumage. Ring-billeds and Herrings tend to show more than average.
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