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Unless stated otherwise, all of these pictures of Baltic Gull Larus fuscus fuscus were taken by Martin Reid in Bahrain, March 4 - 10, 1999. All identification/aging is my own and must be considered tentative - especially for immatures. Discussion about the "adults": I saw only six "adult" fuscus while in Bahrain; each one of them had a completely white tail, no obvious difference in the age of the inner/outer primaries, and no signs of immaturity in the coverts - yet ALL of them had some subterminal black in the bill. I suppose it is possible that all six birds were in fact 2nd-winters - but statistically this is very unlikely, given the population ratio for 2nd-winter vs. adult gulls (plus most 2nd-winters have some black in the tail). Thus it is more likely that some or most (all?) of them were "adults" - i.e. at least in their fourth calendar year (= 3rd-winter) - indicating either that some >2nd-summer birds retain black in their bills, OR some (most?) "adult" birds acquire some black in the bill during the winter. A graellsii seen in Texas as an adult for 10+ years establishes that adult large gulls can acquire/lose black in the bill. : two juveniles (standing); from
Germany in Oct (with a 1B mich.) -
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