Another 1st cycle Herring with white bases to the outer rectrices:
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| (1) Lake County, Illinois. 27 November 2015. |
I don't intentionally go looking for these odd Herrings, but they're hard to ignore when they get in my line of sight.
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Whether this tail pattern represents an extreme end for American Herring, or is truly representative of something "else" is still out of my reach. I heard Vega & Euro Herg tossed around loosely after posting these pics on Facebook. I've never been one to try to label a foreign-looking bird before trying to eliminate the most expected species. The fact that I encounter these tail patterns with some regularity is most fascinating.
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The plumage aspect, renewed scaps, bleaching head and pale bill base is similar to one of my local resident Herrings (as opposed to a crisp "Northern" hatch year bird). For now, I'll continue to collect these images and hope they'll one day shed some light on Herrings across North America. I mentioned recently that much of our identifications will remain mysterious until we get gull enthusiasts side-by-side with biologists/ornithologists in the breeding colonies!
