American Herring Gull (smithsonianus)

(last update: October 30, 2015)

American Herring Gull (smithsonianus) 74C 2nd cycle (3CY), March 23 2016, Hampton, NH. Picture: Charlee Breen.

See website: The Gulls Of Appledore.

American Herring Gull banded green alphanumeric 74C. Green 74C was banded at a monitored nest so an exact age is known to within a day. The hatch date is June 01 2014. 74C was the first chick in the nest to hatch, the 'A' chick. The banding date, before the chick could fly, was July 20 2014 at nest 14H264 on the east side of Appledore Island.

Bill Clark comments: 74C is showing plumage for a gull 'One Year and 10 Months' of age. One of the many goals of the 'Gulls of Appledore' banding and research project is to accumulate photos of 'known age gulls’ and your contribution is a very nice addition.

To age this bird, note the pale iris (brown in 1st cycle), and the obvious difference between upper an lower tertials (the upper tertials have been replaced last autumn, now are 3rd gen, while the lower tertials, like all flight feathers -tail, primaries, secondaries- are 2nd generation).
When looking into more details, several coverts can be found which look fresher as well, also replaced last autumn in a 'partial autumn moult': replaced for 3rd gen are: tt1-3, gc1-2, mc2,5,6.
By March, all of the feathers show moderate to heavy wear, and exact ageing of each feather becomes more and more difficult.