Featured Highlights January 2026

Welcome to Featured Highlights, January 2026. 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, and hopefully apply some of these ideas to identification. 

Video 12 tackles the subject of aging individuals that appear adult-like, overall, but with some imperfections. For such birds, we use the terms "adult type" or "subadult" to qualify what we're seeing. There are other terms in circulation that can be found in the literature, which are also discussed in this video. Enjoy!

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December 2025 Monthly Notables

Sightings:

• Short-billed Gull (adult). Grant County, Wisconsin. 01 December 2025.
• Short-billed Gull (adult). Dubuque County, Iowa. 03 December 2025.
• Same individual from Grant County, WI.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 06 December 2025.
• Franklin's Gull (adult). Elkhart County, Indiana. 07 December 2025.
• Gray Gull (adult type). Sarasota County, Florida. 07 December 2025.
• Apparently, the same individual from Walton County.
• Vega Gull (1st cycle). Midway Islands, US. 10 December 2025.
• Midway Atoll NWR - Eastern Island
• Taimyr Gull (adult). Sonoma County, California. 10 December 2025.
• Returning adult.
• Little Gull (1st cycle). Alachua County, Florida. 10 December 2025.
• Short-billed Gull (adult). Rock Island County, Illinois. 10 December 2025.
• Short-billed Gull (adult). Scott County, Iowa. 10 December 2025.
• Same individual from Rock Island County, IL.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Benton County, Washington. 10 December 2025.
• Continuing.
• California Gull (adult). St. John's County, NL.12 December 2025.
• Continuing
• Franklin's Gull (adult). Lincoln County, Oregon. 12 December 2025.
• Glaucous-winged Gull (1st cycle). Niagara County, New York. 15 December 2025.
• 3rd State Record. 1st Niagara River Record.
• Glaucous-winged Gull (1st cycle). Niagara County, Ontario. 15 December 2025.
• Same individual from NY.
• Black-headed Gull (1st cycle). Lincoln County, Oregon. 16 December 2025. 
  
• Short-billed Gull (adult). New York County, New York. 19 December 2025.
• Presumably a returning individual.
• Vega Gull (adult). Cameron County, Texas. 20 December 2025.
• Presumably a returning adult.
• Glaucous-winged Gull (adult). Franklin County, Illinois. 20 December 2025.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Will County, Illinois. 21 December 2025. 
• Short-billed Gull (2nd cycle). Middlesex County, New Jersey. 21 December 2025.
• 1ST STATE RECORD.
• Glaucous-winged Gull (adult). Clinton County, Illinois. 22 December 2025.
• Likely same bird from Franklin County, IL.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult type). Macomb County, Michigan. 22 December 2025.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Dubuque County, Iowa. 26 December 2025.
• Very likely the same individual from Will County, IL.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Grant County, Wisconsin. 27 December 2025.
• Same individual from Dubuque County, IA
• Kamchatka Gull (adult). Nantucket County, Massachusetts. 28 December 2025.
• Returning adult.
• Short-billed Gull (adult & 2nd cycle). Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. 30 December 2025.
• Vega Gull (3rd cycle). Los Angeles County, California. 31 December 2025.
• Apparently, last year's then 2nd cycle has returned.

Notes:

1. An adult three-cycle gull, apparently from the Common Gull complex, was recorded in St. Charles County, Missouri on 07 December 2025. Originally suspected of being a Short-billed Gull, this individual showed unusually dark upperparts and a wingtip pattern that suggests an Old World taxon situated between Larus canus kamtschatschensis and Larus canus heinei. No identification has been made as the images are difficult to interpret. In any event, it is an extraordinary bird that should likely constitute a 1st State Record "Common Gull". See plates 17A.27-17A.28 in The Gull Guide for comparison.