Herring
Gull - Zilvermeeuw (argentatus & argenteus)
(last update: 08 december 2003)
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Herring Gull adult P- (argenteus), April 05 2003, Brouwersdam, the Netherlands (51.45N-03.52E).
All bare parts are perfectly coloured for the breeding season. The orbital ring is orange. The legs are pinkish-flesh coloured.
Already by the second week of February, at least 25% of adult argenteus from the Netherlands are in active moult on the head. This is often obvious in the feathers around the eye, which are shed by the second week of February, leaving a naked ring around the eye (visible at close range). Last years (2000-2003) winters have been very mild, with many adult argenteus back in the colonies by early February in the Netherlands (north to 53° latitude). This bird has completed the moult on the head.
In the primaries, note the black sub-terminal band on P10, broken in the centre. The white tip of P10 is just connected with the mirror. The black patch between the apical spot and the white inner-web (the medial band) is very broad along the edge of the inner-web. Argenteus normally shows such a broad medial band, where it is restricted in argentatus.