Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans
Photographed by Theo Bakker on
Note
its large size compared to the Lesser Black-Backed Gull Larus
graellsii to the right, its small pale head,
sloping forehead with its firm parallel bill and its elongated appearance and
upright stance. The outermost greater coverts are virtually unmarked and the
undertail coverts are spotted, not barred (both unlike e.g. YL Gull). The
tertials are dark brown with a rather broad, pale edge.
Not all juvenile Caspian Gulls show a paler head like this one, but the
ones I have seen so far did show the unmarked dusty-brown mantle, running up
into the neck, which to me, along with its jizz,
seems one of the key elements to pick out a juvenile PG.
This picture shows the rather pale underwing,
which can be almost white on some birds. Note the almost unmarked brown belly
with the large darker spot near its legs, the white undertail coverts with just
a few dark spots (not barred as in Herring and Yellow-legged Gull) and the pale
edge on the median and greater coverts, thus creating a double wingbar-effect.
Here the almost white uppertail-coverts, with
the broad black tailband can be seen, along with the
obvious thayeri-like (or 'Venetian blind') wingpanel, reaching from P1 to P8 and the pale edge to the
greater coverts.
Note that juvenile Caspian Gulls apparently can show a white trailing
edge to their tailfeathers, which (apparently) wears
off later.
Pictures of another
juvenile Caspian Gull (moulting to 1st winter) in early September
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