Mew Gull Larus canus canus; heinei; kamtschatschensis; brachyrhynchus

(last update: March 12, 2012)

Mew Gull brachyrhynchus adult, April 20 2016, Ambleside Beach - Vancouver, BC. Picture: Pierre Cenerelli.

Deep grey tongue on P8 is the norm for brachyrhynchus but this bird is completely different in that respect.Black on the innerweb of P8 runs back to 80% of the feather. This may be age-related, i.e. more black in the wingtip found in younger birds; but the immaculate white underwing coverts and lack of any black in the tail or secondaries suggest a full adult plumage. However, note the very small white tips on the outermost primaries. Upperaprt grey tone is wrong for east-Asian taxon kamtschatschensis.

The lack of a long grey tongue on P8 raised some discussion if this may occur in brachyrhynchus. Except for that P8 pattern, not much else directed to another taxon. Here is another bird with a similar amount of black on P8.