Gulls in NW Europe
(last update: September 25, 2011
Herring Gull 2cy (argenteus) A6GV July 20 2010, Boulogne-sur-Mer, NW France. Picture: Jean-Michel Sauvage.
Ringed as orphan or botulism victim and taken into hospital for a while. Bird from southern U.K. Metal: London GC69763.
Second-calendar year Herring Gull, moulting to second-winter plumage. The tertials are second-generation and are dark with a white tip. All wing coverts are replaced by second-generation feathers, and have a blocked pattern. The primaries are new second generation feathers, recognizable by their rounded tip; P7 is fully grown, all juvenile primaries dropped. The bill is starting to colour pink; the head is light with dark streaks, the eye spot is dark. The breast, underbody and flanks are white with dark barring. The legs are pink.
