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Western Gull

Larus occidentalis

Photo by Desmond.E.S.O
Published on Project Noah
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33.698, -118.042

Field Notes

Description:

Extremely large gull with greenish tinge on front of face, gray wings, and white body

Habitat:

Bolsa chica wetlands

Notes:

There were about two or three of these very large gulls, and they all had greenish on their for-heads.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (7)
JoshuaGSmith
If you say they were big, then they were probably Western Gulls. That species is massive
Desmond.E.S.O
Yep me too, answering josh's question: It is just strange that there were about two or three big gulls, and they were the only ones that seemed to have the greenish tinge, But I will agree that cameras do, do strange things sometimes.
Liana
Fair enough! I am leaning towards the Herring Gull because I can't see a dark band on the bill and I have to say...the bill does look thicker... Based on the following two references: Ref 1 : http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Gull/id Ref 2 : http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Herring_Gull/id Still not 100% either but I'm very curious to find out what it is :D
JoshuaGSmith
I think the green is just the reflection of the grass. Cameras do strange things to photos sometimes.
Desmond.E.S.O
Thank you very much, Armadeus,4! But I want some more Links/Proof for a definite ID, It maybe a California gull or a Herring gull like you said, so thank again for your suggestions.
Liana
I came across this site that shows a Herring Gull: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Gull/id - looking at the similar species (it states it is a large Gull) to the right of the page at the end of the California Gull description. Then I looked at this site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_herring_gull (American Herring Gull - large Gull) which is a ssp of the Herring Gull and found in the US. I'm not confident enough to suggest an ID...but it might be of some use :)

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Birds of the World
Mission
Birds of California/Arizona
Photographed
PublishedOctober 10, 2015

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