Heuglin's Gull (L. heuglini / antelius)
(last update:
Heuglini sub-adult winter, March 02 2001, Bahrain: Ashkar harbour.
These two images of a presumed male clearly show the general expression in heuglini, completely different from both barabensis and fuscus in Bahrain. Barabensis is two shades of grey paler and has a more friendly facial expression with rounded head and shorter stout, high-based bill. Fuscus is darker, almost black and is not as strongly and heavy built as this individual.
However, we came across some heuglini which approached fuscus in jizz: gently and slender in appearance.
This is not at all a slender bird! It was aggressive against and dominant over surrounding barabensis and immature heuglini. The head appears elongated, the head sloped and the bill rather long but heavy. Although maybe the strongest bill seen in heuglini, the gonydeal angle still is not particularly obvious. The iris is pale yellow, the orbital ring red, as in sub-adult heuglini.
On the head, neck and sides of the breast, some feathers still show dark tips of winter plumage. All heuglini in Bahrain proved to have at least some winter streaking on head and neck, on average more than in (widespread) barabensis.
In the barabensis section, the point was raised about the division between grey and white in the neck. This line lies on average lower than in European white-headed gulls (a point made by Howard King), but these pictures shows heuglini may have the grey mantle feathering starting relatively low as well.
All the mantle, scapulars and wing coverts are adult-like grey in this sub-adult bird and moult seem to be completed. The tertials were moulted very recently. The tail is completely white.
The primaries are jet black and a small mirror is visible, at least on p9. The tips are very small and not at all like in adults. The legs are clear yellow.
