Larus cachinnans
(last update:
Greg Neubauer
Marcin Przymencki
Albert de Jong
Mars Muusse
cachinnans plumages
Larus michahellis 1CY & 4CY 70Y October 21 2008, Westkapelle, the Netherlands. Picture: Ies Meulmeester.
Ringcode: red 70Y, ringed as pullus on May 31 2008 at Rheinau Freistett, Germany.
below: michahellis 1CY 70Y October 21 2008, Westkapelle, the Netherlands. Picture: Ies Meulmeester.
This color-ringed 1cy Yellow-legged Gull has moulted most of the scapulars to second generation feathers, but a few (lower) scapulars and all coverts & tertials are still juvenile. The whitish patterns and markings on nearly all greater and median coverts is worn and the feathers are rather brown bleached, so most of the coverts shows a extensive dark central reaching to the edge of the feather with small white fringes. The under-wings are dark showing a typical fine dark marked pattern. Note the bill which start to get paler at the base and the typical tapering solid black tail-band; the rectrices are clearly white from the top of the tail-band till the base of these feathers with only a few dark spots. So there's many contrast between the rectrices and the upper-tail coverts.
below: michahellis 4CY 70Y November 18 2011, Oostende, Belgium. Picture: Francois Roland.
More than three year later on 18 November 2011, Roland Francois photographed the same Yellow-legged Gull as 4cy in the harbor of Oostende, Belgium. Note the distinct dark marked primary coverts and alula feathers.
