2cy Baltic Gull L f fuscus

Baltic Gull - Larus fuscus fuscus

1: © Ruud Altenburg, 11-08-08; 2: © Ruud Altenburg, 16-08-08; 3-4: © Ruud Altenburg, 12-08-08; 5-6, 8: © Mars Muusse, 19-08-08; 14-08-08, 9: © Roy Slaterus, 13-08-08; 12: © Ruud Altenburg, 15-08-08. Amsterdam, Netherlands.

An unmistakable 2cy Baltic Gull L f fuscus. The tail, secondaries and all primaries are fully grown and already slightly to moderately worn, so acquired in early spring. While most western birds by mid-August are well underway with their first complete moult and show mostly fresh scapulars and wing coverts, in this bird all but a few are moderately to heavily worn. Compare in plate 4 with a 2cy graellsii (or graellsii-like intermedius; top) and 2cy intermedius, which are in active moult (the outer primaries still are juvenile). Many of the more advanced 2cy fuscus start a new moult wave in their first summer, but except for a few missing coverts, this individual shows no signs of active moult yet.