Larus armenicus
(last update:
Amir Ben Dov (Israel)
Mars Muusse (Netherlands)
armenicus 1cy July
armenicus 1cy August
armenicus 1cy Sept
armenicus 1cy Oct
armenicus 1cy Nov
armenicus 1cy Dec
armenicus 2cy Jan
armenicus 2cy Febr
armenicus 2cy March
armenicus 2cy April
armenicus 2cy May
armenicus 2cy June
armenicus 2cy July
armenicus 2cy August
armenicus 2cy Sept
armenicus 2cy Oct
armenicus 2cy Nov
armenicus 2cy Dec
armenicus 3cy Jan
armenicus 3cy Febr
armenicus 3cy March
armenicus 3cy April
armenicus 3cy May
armenicus 3cy June
armenicus 3cy July
armenicus 3cy August
armenicus 3cy Sept
armenicus 3cy Oct
armenicus 3cy Nov
armenicus 3cy Dec
armenicus sub-ad Jan
armenicus sub-ad Febr
armenicus sub-ad March
armenicus sub-ad April
armenicus sub-ad May
armenicus sub-ad June
armenicus sub-ad July
armenicus sub-ad August
armenicus sub-ad Sept
armenicus sub-ad Oct
armenicus sub-ad Nov
armenicus sub-ad Dec
armenicus adult Jan
armenicus adult Febr
armenicus adult March
armenicus adult April
armenicus adult May
armenicus adult June
armenicus adult July
armenicus adult August
armenicus adult Sept
armenicus adult Oct
armenicus adult Nov
armenicus adult Dec
Larus armenicus 4cy, 15 October 2010, Ashdod, Israel. Picture: Amir Ben Dov.
When the outer primaries have been dropped, ageing can be difficult. Fortunately, there are still a few old retained secondaries visible in this individual. These often are the last feathers to be dropped in the complete moult, and they may give a clue to age. Here, these inner secondaries (often S16-S18) are quite adult-like, with a grey base and broad tip (although very worn), but clearly not a large dark centre as would be expected in old 2g secondaries. Of course it still is only a hint to age, as the secondaries are sometimes replaced in a winter moult by some species (especially fuscus, intermedius and heuglini), and it has to be seen if the same happens in armenicus (a michahellis related species, hence less likely). Yellow legs, limited to no black on the primary coverts, broad tips to the primaries and no extensive black in the tail support the idea of 4cy bird. Outer primaries still growing.
