Georgia Gull ID
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Georgia Gull ID
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06/22/07 |
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Georgia Gull Identification Page
- Franklin's Gull
June 21, 2007 - I've had numerous responses as to the identification of the gull that was found at Carter's Lake in Georgia on June 16th. The majority of birders who have responded agree that this is indeed a 1st summer Franklin's Gull. I'll include some of the identification field marks here for reference. I think this was a good gull to study, since we (in Georgia) rarely get to observe this species at this time of the year. The annotated checklist for Georgia Birds lists the spring late date for Franklin's Gull as 21 May (1993) and only several accidental records of inland birds in spring; Lake Lanier 28 April 1981 (Paget and Manns), Lake Chatuge 4-5 May 1984 (Green), Lake Hartwell 11 May 1986 (WB 12(8):3). This inland record is significantly later than these earlier records.
Photos of the bird; Here are two enhanced (lightened) images of the gull which show the underside of the wing;
Original photos:
Unauthorized use of these images is prohibited. Dean Edwards from TN, also posted some pictures of the Skua and the Gull on his site at: http://www-chaos.engr.utk.edu/~kde/pictmp/CartersLake/CartersLake.html Identification summary: Wing pattern: Note the fresh new primaries (P7 and P6) have a subterminal white band contrasting with the black, the outermost dark primary feathers are all dark with no white tips because they have not yet been molted (Sibley, Todd, Sloan, Edwards, Flynn, Howard). The underside of the wing is pale with only the outer primary wedge being dark (Todd) These field marks are consistent with this age Franklin's Gull. Head and Bill Shape: The head shows a more rounded half-hooded effect, good for Franklin's Gull and unlike Laughing. The bill looks thinner and has less of a gondeal angle (M. Todd, D Edwarda) than Laughing Gull would show. Other Characteristics: The bird has a clean white nape. expected in Franklin's not so for Laughing. Here is the detailed explanations from some of the contributors. (any omissions or incorrect statements are all my doing!) "... – the gull is undoubtedly a first-summer Franklin’s (one year old). Most distinctive is that the two outermost new primaries each have black marks sharply contrasting with subterminal white areas. On Laughing Gull the black tips on the primaries are not so well-defined, blending to gray without the intervening white. And a Laughing Gull that was still young enough to show dark secondaries like this bird would have the outer primaries more black than an adult. The two lightened photos you put up show three dark outer primaries that are pointed, with no white tips. These are retained juvenal feathers. The rest of the primaries are new and adult-like, which is typical of Franklin’s at this age (with two complete molts each year) and not expected for Laughing. There are other details that are helpful as well – the apparently clean white nape, the extensive and well-defined half hood, etc, but it’s the wing pattern that really clinches it." David Sibley "I am going Franklin's all the way on this bird. I've lightened up a couple of photos a bit, showing the paleness of the underwing with only the outer primary wedge dark. I would age this bird as a 1st-summer bird, since the 3 outer primaries look to me like very worn juvenile feathers. P7 and P6 show the classic Franklin's black subterminal band with a big white tip and some white interior of it as well. In one or two shots at funny angles, the bill looks a little big, but in most shots it looks very petite like a Franklin's, with no gonydeal angle. There is a photo of an almost identical bird (standing unfortunately) in Howell's new Gull book. This bird is aged as a 1st-cycle, with it being noted that Franklin's in 1st-cycle often retain the juvenile P8-P10 during their 1st flight feather molt." Mike Todd "The plumage cycle of this bird is troubling me. It's clearly a first cycle bird based on the black extending into the primary coverts. However, from Mike's photos almost all of the remiges appear to be old and worn. A Franklin's should have just completed its pre-alternate molt (including flight feathers unlike other gulls in PA) which would suggest that the remiges should be pretty fresh in appearance. If the pics are accurately showing the state of wear of those secondaries, I find it hard (but not impossible) to believe they are molted in the last 9 months. In all other respects I agree it appears to be a Franklin's." Chris Sloan "On the photo Mike mentions in Steve Howell and Jon Dunn's new Gulls book, I agree that it is almost identical including the molt pattern of the primaries (except that the Carters Lake bird is 1-2 feathers ahead). Note that the photo in the book was taken by Al Jaramillo in late June (Oregon I think, don't have the book with me here in Michigan, just ran over to the Border's and looked at it earlier tonight). Notice the black island surrounded by white on one of the new primaries (P6 maybe?) visible particularly well in the first photo on the left-hand wing and last photo in second row. That's shown in Sibley and very clear in the photo in the Howell/Dunn photo (note that Sibley calls it 1st summer... having been an egg the previous summer). The bill looks big in the first few photos but in all others looks like Franklin's to me. Head shape always looks like Franklin's to me. My vote is clearly Franklin's, 1st or 2nd summer depending on your choice of nomenclature." Dean Edwards "The hood is extensive enough for Franklin's extending in front of the eye and down under the eye at the back. First summer Laughting has an extensive hood, but its wingtips are black, whereas in your bird, P-10, P-9 and P-8 have white tips. That rules out 1st summer Laughing. Your bird has a bright white hindneck and a 2d winter Laughing has a gray hindneck, ruling out 2d winter Laughing. With the photo lightened a bit, you can clearly see that only P-10, P-9 and P-8 have white tips, with the rest of the wing feathers being light in color (whitish or light grayish). The wings are,therefore good for Franklin's." Pierre Howard
June 16, 2007 - A gull turned up at Carter's Lake and was noted by birders from Tennessee while looking at the South Polar Skua.. Initially it was called a Laughing Gull, but several excellent birders from TN noticed that the bird showed a lot of white under the wing, more so than a Laughing Gull, and identified it as Franklin's Gull. Deb and I went to see if we could locate the bird on Sunday, and along with Karen Theodorou, Max Medley and Larry Russell, we found the bird and I took a series of images (all badly exposed due to the poor backlight conditions). Here is some of my thought process and the series of photos from that morning. You decide! . We found the bird near the damn and at one point it flew over our heads and I snapped some images. On seeing the gull in the field, my initial impression was that it was a Franklin’s Gull. It appeared that the underside of the wing was mostly white with just the outer wedge black, unlike what I would expect to see on a 2nd year Laughing gull. I also though the upper wing pattern showed white tips to the primaries, again a good field mark for Franklin’s. The hood was not especially helpful from what I could see but the general size of the head/bill and the shape of the wings suggested Franklin’s Gull. I left the site fairly certain that it was indeed a Franklin's. I got home and looked at the photos I took and became less convinced. The images I got were terrible and the bird was backlight so the underside of the wings look dark in all my shots unfortunately eliminating that field mark from helping to separate the two. The wings tips on the outer primaries were severely worn, so the white tips that I though I saw in the field in flight may just have been the worn shafts reflecting light. The size and shape of the bill, wing and head are ok in some shots, but look too large in others. One more thing, while I was on the coast I looked at and photographed over a 100 LAGU in all plumages and I did not see a single gull that showed as much white under the wings and in the nape/body as the bird at Carter’s Lake. So, I am back to concluding this was a very worn Franklin’s Gull but wanted to get other comments from birders on the list.
Any comments or suggestions on the identification of the gull can be sent to my email at
Thanks!
Birding Kennesaw Mountain Georgia Birding Trip Reports This site was last updated 06/22/07 |
