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Herring Gull
adult (argentatus), January 06 1992, Worcestershire, Britain.
Picture by Peter Stewart.
Adult birds from the western populations argenteus
show more black in the outer primaries, compared to northern argentatus.
In argenteus, P5 normally shows
small black sub-terminal markings, concentrated on the
outer-web as a clear-cut black angular spot and in some birds extending on
the inner-web as a diffuse streak. There may be some black on P4 as well,
although this might be a clue for near-adult birds. In argentatus, especially from
far northern Scandinavia, the black
marking on P5
is completely lacking or is very limited and diffuse.
Argenteus often has a black sub-terminal band on the top of P10, dividing the tip from the mirror. If
the black sub-terminal band on P10 is broken, there is often still black
on the inner and outer-web's edge of P10. Normally argentatus lacks sub-terminal
markings on the outer-web of P10.
In adult Herring Gull, the scapular coverts are plain grey, lacking white crescents. The tertials
show obvious white tips. The iris is yellow. The bill is yellow with a red
gonydeal spot, confined to the lower mandible. The orbital ring is
yellowish or yellow-orange in argenteus; slightly orange-red or
coral red in most argentatus; especially birds from the Baltic region
show a bias to reddish orbital rings. The legs are flesh-pink in argenteus, but
may show a yellowish hue or appear very clear yellow in some argentatus
(from either the Baltic region or far northern Finnmark). Furthermore,
adult argentatus from Finnmark also seem to develop
"bubble-gum" pink legs.
This
bird and the one in the previous photograph
were both caught with those of the 06.01.1992. Note the different wing-tip
patterns. An extensive research about primary-tip pattern was done by the
late E.K. Barth in the sixties. Results
are represented in the table below.
Table
4 from E.K. Barth, The circumpolar systematics of Larus
argentatus and Larus fuscus with special reference to
the Norwegian populations, 1968. 200 Norwegian birds. (Notation
converted to what we use in the texts, MM). |
locality |
sample
size |
tip
pattern P10 |
tip
pattern P9 |
colour
of P10 inner-web |
black present from P10 to: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
6 |
P7 |
P6 |
P5 |
P4 |
East
Finnmark |
15 |
n |
10 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
7 |
3 |
12 |
3 |
- |
10 |
5 |
- |
% |
67 |
7 |
13 |
13 |
33 |
27 |
7 |
7 |
27 |
33 |
47 |
20 |
80 |
20 |
- |
67 |
33 |
- |
Tamsöy
in Central Finnmark |
33 |
n |
17 |
7 |
6 |
3 |
10 |
10 |
6 |
0 |
7 |
12 |
20 |
1 |
23 |
10 |
- |
19 |
13 |
1 |
% |
52 |
21 |
18 |
9 |
30 |
30 |
18 |
- |
21 |
36 |
61 |
3 |
70 |
30 |
- |
58 |
39 |
- |
Troms |
29 |
n |
17 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
11 |
9 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
20 |
6 |
24 |
5 |
- |
24 |
5 |
- |
% |
59 |
28 |
10 |
3 |
38 |
31 |
14 |
3 |
14 |
10 |
69 |
21 |
83 |
17 |
- |
83 |
17 |
- |
Bodö
and Röst |
32 |
n |
15 |
10 |
3 |
2 |
19 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
24 |
5 |
27 |
5 |
1 |
18 |
13 |
- |
% |
50 |
33 |
10 |
7 |
63 |
10 |
17 |
- |
10 |
9 |
75 |
16 |
84 |
16 |
3 |
56 |
41 |
- |
Tarva |
20 |
n |
8 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
8 |
2 |
12 |
8 |
1 |
7 |
10 |
2 |
% |
40 |
35 |
15 |
10 |
55 |
25 |
20 |
- |
- |
50 |
40 |
10 |
60 |
40 |
5 |
35 |
50 |
10 |
Stavanger
and Lindesnes |
42 |
n |
18 |
13 |
4 |
6 |
23 |
12 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
15 |
23 |
4 |
37 |
5 |
- |
13 |
29 |
- |
% |
44 |
32 |
10 |
14 |
55 |
28 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
36 |
55 |
9 |
88 |
12 |
- |
31 |
69 |
- |
Oslo
Fiord |
29 |
n |
19 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
20 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
14 |
3 |
24 |
5 |
- |
17 |
12 |
- |
% |
66 |
21 |
10 |
3 |
71 |
4 |
14 |
4 |
7 |
42 |
48 |
10 |
83 |
17 |
- |
59 |
41 |
- |
|
|
|
|
1:
all white
2: trace of black near tip
3: incomplete black bar near tip
4: complete black bar or black tip |
1:
broad white band over both webs
2: white spot on both webs
3: white spot on inner web only
4: no white spot present
5: 'thayeri-pattern' |
1:
like mantle colour
2: slightly lighter than mantle colour
3: markedly lighter than mantle colour
5: relatively sharp border between black and grey
6: gradual transition from black to grey |
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