The twitchers among you that so wish, foolish or bold enough to take our word for it (that is Jeff Davies and I), should start making preparations to go to Broome to see the Black-backed Gull currently frequenting the rubbish tip. Based on two photos received from Jim Allen and three from George Swann, we believe that it is the nominate Baltic race of Lesser Black-backed Gull. We have requested other views. It is a very black-backed, elongated slender gull with yellow legs, smallish head, relatively slender bill with a small gonys. We have considered female Kelp but believe it to be too slight in build. Harder to eliminate is Heuglin’s Gull but we consider this individual to be too dark on the upperparts for that species. There are as yet no accepted records of this taxon for Australia but several of us consider that a bird photographed previously in Broome by an overseas visitor was this species and there is a banding recovery from Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Thus the species is on the Supplementary List.
Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136 ===============================
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Hi Rob,
I agree with you and Jeff Davies that taimyrensis should be paler and that the upper part colouration matches heuglini better. I am looking forward to seeing more pictures after the weekend!
Nikolas
Hi Nicholas I agree generally, and heuglini was my initial reaction, and I was happy with those thoughts last night when I had time to look at literature / photos. I have seen a lot of both L.h.heuglini and L.h.taimyrensis in the field and the only issue I had with taimyrensis was that it seems very dark. I think that heuglini is typically darker grey/black than taimyrensis and there is normally more contrast between the darker primaries and general back / mantle, covet colour. Whilst heuglini is not as black as Baltic Gull (where there is little or no contrast) it is often only a subtle contrast on heuglini (which would fit this bird perhaps?). That said, I have not seen the bird and light plays a major role in this perception of shades of grey.The bill size and shape on both is quite variable although typically slighter on heglini (i think!?). I think structurally the bird is too heavy for a L.f fuscus (Baltic Gull). I won’t be going to Broome to look at it though! Too much to do in SEQ!
Rob Morris
Brisbane, Australia
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Hi all,
For those who have already booked their flights (not me): Following up on Mike’s comment regarding the ID of the bird, Martin Gottschling and I had a look at the available pictures. Here our summary at this point:
Overall, looks like a bird of the Lesser Black-back complex and Kelp can be ruled out. Too pale and too stocky/heavy for fuscus fuscus. Moult: Completely old primaries, most secondaries seem to be new – primaries will be moulted next. Moult pattern fits Heuglin’s. The relatively dark iris and the slightly drooping bill could speak for taimyrensis. So our conclusion as of this point would be a likely Larus heuglini taimyrensis versus a possible Larus heuglini heuglini.
Looking forward to seeing more pictures after the weekend! Cheers, Nikolas
Hi Mike, Jeff et al.
Good stuff – that’s exciting! Heuglin’s is certainly an important ID contender – although it looks more like graellsii and intermedius than fuscus. The short description certainly points towards fuscus! I am definitely not going to ‘tick’ it but I would love to see the photos. Are any photos online?
Cheers,
Nikolas
Sounds interesting. However, where is the rubbish tip please?
Tony