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| March. Illinois. |
Age: The marbled greater coverts, overall muted pattern to the upperparts, and rounded primary tips suggest a delayed 2nd cycle type. Our November bird is a four-cycle species, and the upper mantle shows some subtle, adult-like gray, which also points away from a 1st cycle.
Identification: The fairly straight and short bill, small rounded-head, low-contrast upperparts and brownish primaries with pale edging are all fairly typical of a 2nd cycle Thayer's Gull. For comparison, a 2nd cycle American Herring is in the background, showing a messier appearance with high contrast from the primaries to the tertials, and tertials to the wing coverts. Our November Quiz gull is a small, female type, Thayer's Gull.