(Probable) hybrid
This 1st
winter gull was photographed by Rik Winters at the
It is always
tricky to speculate about the parentage of such birds but here I go:
The cachinnans-features of this bird are the long wings and long
thin legs and the long, slim and parallel bill. The pattern on the tertials,
with the broad pale edges, also fit cachinnans. The wingcoverts are of
an orange-brown tinge that I (personally) associate with cachinnans. The
headshape and the bold patterns on the scapulars, however, aren’t like cachinnans
at all. These could fit both michahellis and argentatus. I ‘m slightly in favour of michahellis because of the
darkish mask around the eye and the square-ish and
deep headshape. On the vent and undertail coverts some small chevrons
(not unlike cachinnans) and bolder markings (arg/mich)
can be seen. The markings on the greater wingcoverts seem somewhere in between cachinnans
and michahellis, perhaps a bit closer to the latter.
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