Mew Gull Larus canus canus; heinei; kamtschatschensis; brachyrhynchus

(last update: March 12, 2012)

Mew Gull SVS 7147556 3cy, 22 March 1997, Malmö, Sweden.

Figure 12: 7147556 (366/93,8) retarded two-year old bird (3CY), 22 March 1997. Note second generation primaries.

Ageing of first and second plumage birds is often straight forward, but here is one bird which is difficult to age (fig 11). It probably is a retarded second-year bird, which have retained some of the first-year feathers. Another slow developing bird is shown in fig 12 (below), but normally the differences between first and second year plumages are obvious.

Figure from:
Is it possible to age subadult Mew Gulls Larus canus?
by: Kenneth Bengtsson & Lennarth Blomquist, publication in: Anser 2-42(2003): p 73-92.