Re: [Maine-birds] Photos of Little Gull - Head Beach Phippsburg

Thanks for checking this bird so quickly, Louis.  In retrospect, the legs are too long for Little Gull as well.  Tommy Boyle points out that with their short legs, Little Gulls can be confused with Sterna sp. terns.

My initial impression was based on over-all size (very small) with a very small bill (on the small side for Bonies, even.)  Both might be artifacts of an infection, I suppose.  This could be an emaciated, sickly bird. 

On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 12:06 PM, Louis Bevier <lrbevier@colby.edu> wrote:

Thanks for the simplicity of the link and the great photos, Mike.

Your bird is a Bonaparte's Gull, however. I can see how the darkish carpel bar and remnants of juvenal plumage could throw you. This is a confusing plumage.

The clincher for ID is the flight shot. Look at the black line that extends along the trailing edge of the wing. That neat black line is absent in juvenal through first basic (formative) Little Gull, which shows black tips on the outer primaries only and has a white trailing edge inboard of that. There are several other differences I can see in the bird at rest, and we could go over those offline.

Louis Bevier
Fairfield

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