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Identification help

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:27 am
by Abdulla Paleri
Please help me to identify this gull .The photo is taken from kozhikode,Kerala,India.Exact location is the Arabian Sea coast of Indian Ocean.Date 5.2.2020.I would be grateful if anybody help me to confirm the identification of the gull in the image.

Re: Identification help

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 8:32 pm
by marsmuusse
Hi Abdulla,

As the bird is already white-headed by the first week of February, I reckon it has its origins at the steppe, rather than from the arctic tundra populations.
The relatively long, white tongue on the underside of P10 probably best match to barabensis or birds from the eastern cachinnans breeding zone like the ones found in eastern Kazakhstan, see:
http://gull-research.org/cachinnans/5cy/5cyjune15.html

Cheers, Mars