Featured Highlights - May 2025

Welcome to Featured Highlights, May 2025. This video series aims to highlight ideas found in The Gull Guide - North America. I'll be expanding on and detailing concepts you're reading about in the book, beginning with establishing a foundation for molt and plumage. 

This fifth video briefly reviews the start of the 2nd prebasic molt, and then focuses on the differences between 2nd cycle and 3rd cycle in large gulls. Distinguishing these two can often be done with perched birds, but sometimes an open wing is needed, and is safest when aging large gulls. 

Requests and suggestions can be forwarded to thegullguide@gmail.com

Click on thumbnail above and be sure to watch in HD

April 2025 Monthly Notables

Sightings:

• Yellow-footed Gull (2nd cycle). San Diego County, California. 01 April 2025.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Niagara County, Ontario. 02 April 2025.
• Gray Gull (adult type). Mobile County, Alabama. 05 April 2025.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Galveston County, Texas. 19 April 2025.
• Glaucous Gull (adult). Graham County, Arizona. 20 April 2025. 
• Extraordinary sighting of an adult bird already molting flight feathers.
• Little Gull (adult). Polk County, Minnesota. 24 April 2025.
• Gray Gull (adult type). Cameron Parish, Louisiana. 25 April 2025.
• 1ST STATE RECORD. Apparently, the FL/AL individual.
• Yellow-footed Gull (2nd cycle). Stanislaus County, California. 27 April 2025.