I'll begin this post by reiterating - as I always do - that I'd much rather leave confusing young gulls unidentified than assign a hybrid label to them. There is no sense in jumping to conclusions when there are no data to support them.
With that said, here's a bird I first thought may be a 1st cycle Lesser, then decided it was okay for a 1st cycle Herring, and then started scratching my head the longer I looked at it.
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| Structurally, the rear looks very little like an American Herring and much more like a Lesser. The sparsely marked vent area is also unusual. |
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| The, longer, solid outer median and lesser coverts also resemble Lesser Black-backed, more than American Herring. |
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| "This is NOT a pure American Herring" were my thoughts after seeing the undertail. |
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| The white vent is not something I've encountered with juvenile American Herrings. But now see the open wing... |
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| The uppertail contrasts greatly with the rest of the body, but most disturbing is the strong contrast to the pale inner primaries (only seen well in brighter lighting). |
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| In this slightly underexposed image, it looks long-winged, shows less of an inner primary window, and the tail almost looks like it was trying to go for a banded look but failed miserably. |
If this is an American Herring Gull or Lesser Black-backed Gull, then I have to admit that I don't yet know these species well. It sure doesn't feel right for either taxon. On the other hand, it does look intermediate in many ways. Another one for the mystery file.
