ink spot

[adriaens]

Today I photographed this Belgian colour-ringed argenteus on the beach at Koksijde, Belgium:





I think this may be the first documented case of an ink spot in colour-ringed European Herring Gull ?

[Detlef Gruber]

Dear Peter & ALL,

yes, we saw last winter at least two different immature Gulls (presumably nominate argentatus) showing blackish “ink” marks in their tertials.
That’s why I doubt it could be a discriminate ID character for immature smithsonianus. We got some very poor record shots showing the ink marks.
I believe if one would concentrate on looking for “ink” marks, we certainly would find it more regular in Europe. However, it seems to be much more frequent within smithsonianus.

See also discussion at:

http://www.club300.de/id-forum/topic.php?number=1085

How about the ringing details of your Belgian bird?

Best regards
Detlef

[adriaens]

Hi Detlef,

nice to meet you here!
Ringing details are as follows:
This bird was ringed as an adult Herring Gull at the gull colony of Zeebrugge, Belgium, on 26 May 2008.
This means that, in theory, it could have come from anywhere. However, it was present in the Zeebrugge colony all summer of 2008 and also the whole breeding season of 2009, and it winters on the beaches nearby (with one short holiday trip to a dump in the north of France in December 2008), so it appears to be a local bird.

I regularly come across subadult Herring Gulls with blackish ink spots. In most of these, however, the spots are brownish-black rather than jet black (if you look at the bird from different angles), and their shape is often a bit irregular. Sharply demarcated, jet black, oval-shaped or rounded spots in otherwise perfect adult birds seem to be rare in European HG -- and far more common in American HG indeed. However, as this colour-ringed bird proves, they do occur in European birds.

[Ruud Altenburg]

Hallo Peter,

as it has been ringed as an adult it doesn't really prove it, but few people will disagree with you that this is a character that is present in European birds as well. If only there were exclusive characters in large gulls...

Attached is a ringed bird from IJmuiden, 31-12-06. Unfortunately I could not read the ring due to heavy wind and large distance. Could well have been a local bird. The immature bird was photographed in Amsterdam, 19-03-07.

Cheers

Ruud